


because the world can't hold us down

by long_live



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-05-29 22:56:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 62,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15083546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/long_live/pseuds/long_live
Summary: "Jennie’s objectively attractive,” Lisa acknowledges. “At least, until she opens her mouth and reveals all that ugly inside.”“Nobody at this school cares about what’s inside, Lisa,” says Jisoo. “Jennie’s got it all: good looks, brains, and the perfect amount of bitchiness to keep her lackeys under control."or:Lisa finds that going to a public school is exactly what the movies told her it would be. Maybe she's not a huge fan of the social cliques, but they're there: the athletes, the nerds, the popular girls, and the rest.Then there's Jennie Kim, who manages to fit all of those categories and, somehow, create her own.





	1. a kind face (and an attitude that isn't)

**Author's Note:**

> To get a few things out of the way:
> 
> \- It's a high school AU, so they're a little younger (and also all the same age).
> 
> \- I tried not to write it too OOC, so let's hope for the best! In other words, this is definitely not a reliable representation.
> 
> \- BLACKPINK's comeback has me out of my mind, glad they finally have >5 songs— even if those 5 were already amazing.
> 
> Work title is from "As If It's Your Last", and chapter titles from other BLACKPINK songs.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa meets a couple of friends and also Jennie Kim.

The strap of her backpack digs painfully into Lisa’s shoulder as she stands in the empty hallway.

It’s her first day transferring to a new high school, which automatically means that it’s going to be horrible. It doesn’t help that she’s late because of a few wrong turns (fine, maybe a lot more than that), prompting an awkward meeting with the principal, who evidently tried much too hard to seem warm and welcoming. To make matters worse, she’s now completely lost.

Lisa glances down at the crumpled schedule in her hand, on which “Period 1: Honors Math, Room 605” is printed in helpfully bolded letters. Then she glances back up at the rooms in front of her: 602, 603, 604, and suddenly 606?! Honestly, what type of school does this to their students?

Class started over fifteen minutes ago, so there are no teachers in sight. Lisa considers going back to the office to ask the principal, but this campus is so big that she’s worried about getting lost on the way there. Plus, she’s not sure she really wants to talk to that man for any longer than necessary. Her other option is to go into one of these random classrooms and ask the teacher, but people would definitely stare, and Lisa doesn’t feel like dealing with that.

Just as she’s about to throw down her backpack and scream in frustration, the door to room 604 opens and a girl with maroon hair slips out. The bold color makes Lisa a little nervous to approach her— what if she’s a gangster or something?— but hey, it’s not like she herself is a natural blonde.

The other student sees Lisa standing awkwardly in the middle of the hallway and looks a little confused, but flashes her a smile before moving to walk past her.

“Wait!” Lisa grabs for the other girl’s arm, deciding that she’s probably not a gangster with a face that friendly. “Can you help me? I think I’m lost.” (Ha, as if. She’s completely certain that she’s lost.)

“Um, sure,” comes the response. Seeing the room number on Lisa’s schedule, she laughs and says, “Oh, no wonder. I can take you there. Are you new?”

Feeling relieved, Lisa nods and follows her down the hall. “Yeah, I followed the room numbers to 604, but it skips to 606… What’s your name?”

“I’m Chaeyoung. What about you?” So the other girl is Korean. Lisa hadn’t been sure, thrown off by the dramatic hair dye. Plus, she speaks in an accent that isn’t really Asian, more like… British? Australian? She’s not exactly an expert on these things.

“Lisa.” They’ve arrived at room 605, which for some reason is the only room on the other side of the building. “Thanks so much!”

“Yeah, no problem,” says Chaeyoung. “You know, you seem cool. Come sit with us at lunch.”

 _Yes!_ thinks Lisa, who was expecting a lonely lunch in the corner. Out loud, she questions, “Us?”

“Jisoo and I,” the other girl clarifies. “Hey, Jisoo’s in this class; I think she sits in the back: pretty girl, dark hair and eyes, Korean. You should talk to her.” Chaeyoung pats her shoulder and walks away, most likely to the bathroom that she’d been heading for in the first place. Lisa’s left with one hand on the doorknob, and feeling nervous, she quietly pushes it open.

The teacher pauses from where he’d been scribbling on the whiteboard to look at her, as does everyone else in the room. “Oh, this must be our new student. I’m Mr. Shane. Would you like to introduce yourself?”

Lisa wouldn’t really like to, but whatever. She steps into the classroom and waves hesitantly. “Hi, I’m Lalisa Manoban, but you can call me Lisa. I just moved here from Thailand.” Her English gets her some surprised looks; she's pretty fluent since she studied it as a foreign language at a private school for years.

Mr. Shane claps his hands together and turns back to the class. “Please, take a seat anywhere you’d like. We were just going over derivatives.”

Lisa looks around for someone matching Chaeyoung’s description, and her eyes land on a girl in the front. She definitely fits the requirements. Chaeyoung hadn’t been lying; Jisoo is absolutely gorgeous. Cat-like eyes, pouty lips, just the perfect touch of makeup for a clean look. She’s even decked out in an expensive-looking Chanel ensemble. Granted, Lisa’d been expecting more of a cute vibe than this cool beauty, but she’s got no objections.

She slides into the empty seat next to Jisoo and whispers, “Hi. Chaeyoung told me to talk to you.”

Jisoo arches an eyebrow sharply. “Chaeyoung? Chaeyoung Park?”

“Yeah… red hair, about my height. Your friend?” Lisa says carefully.

“Are you serious?” Jisoo stares at her. “Either shut up and pay attention to the lesson or move seats.” She goes back to taking notes.

Jeez, what a bitch. She’s starting to wonder if… “You _are_ Jisoo, right?”

The other student doesn’t even bother to answer, instead shoving her binder at Lisa with her free hand. Lisa reads the words there written in neat calligraphy: _Jennie Kim_.

Okay… so not Jisoo. That explains a lot. Lisa scans the room, kind of wishing Chaeyoung had been a little more specific, and notices another Korean girl in the back (oh yeah, in the back, whoops) who is also quite pretty. That girl looks a lot more like what Lisa had been expecting.

It’s too late to change seats now, and Lisa’s stuck in painful silence next to Jennie for the rest of the class. Lisa’s old school already covered this topic, so instead of paying attention, she busies herself by watching the other students in the class.

To her credit, Jennie is actually quite intelligent, solving all of the problems quickly and accurately, often even before Lisa does herself. She never raises her hand to answer, though, which surprises Lisa. Based off her rude attitude earlier, she would’ve thought Jennie was that one kid in class who obnoxiously answered all the questions even when nobody asked.

On the other hand, the real Jisoo seems to be having some trouble. She glares at her paper, pausing to erase furiously, then finally drops her pencil and leans back in her chair. Lisa watches with some amusement as Jisoo picks up her water bottle and starts trying to balance it on her shoulder.

“Miss Kim,” snaps Mr. Shane from the front of the room, making Jennie and Lisa start. But his gaze is instead directed at Jisoo. “Please pay attention, unless you have all of these concepts down.”

The other Kim slumps down in her chair, “Sure.”

The teacher narrows his eyes at the nonchalant non-answer. “Alright then, what’s your answer for number one?”

Lisa winces. Number one is the easiest question, but from what she saw earlier, she’s pretty sure Jisoo has no clue that the derivative is just the square root of x plus one, so the answer is 3.

And she’s right. There’s a long silence as Jisoo looks anywhere but at the teacher. Fortunately, she happens to notice Lisa, who’s holding up three fingers, turned slightly to shield them from the teacher.

“Uh...three,” Jisoo says hastily. Lisa gives her a thumbs-up.

Mr. Shane blinks in surprise. “Hmm… Please stay focused anyway as the questions get more difficult.”

After he turns back to the board, Jisoo pretends to wipe away sweat and mock-bows in thanks several times to Lisa, who grins back at her. Jisoo might be confused why the new student randomly decided to help her out, but Lisa knows she probably just made another friend.

And perhaps another enemy. Next to her, Jennie scoffs, “She’s an idiot for not paying attention, and you’re an idiot for helping her like that. She’s never going to improve.”

 _What the hell?_ Lisa gets along well with most people, and in the rare cases where she doesn’t, she manages to grit her teeth through their interactions and fake it till she makes it. But Jennie seems to get on her nerves in all the wrong ways, so she snaps right back under her breath, “Seriously, what is your problem? We literally just met, and you’re acting like a—”

The sound of the bell cuts her off before she can say anything too drastic. Class is over; Jennie grabs her things and filters out of the classroom with the rest of the students, not sparing Lisa a second glance. Lisa hangs back to wait for Jisoo.

“Hey, thanks for your help back there. I had no idea what was happening,” Jisoo admits sheepishly, as if Lisa (or anyone with eyes) needed her confession to realize that. “Lisa, right? How’re you liking our school and its lovely members so far?”

Lisa notices that unlike Chaeyoung, Jisoo does speak with a Korean accent. It’s subtle, but still there. “Well, I met Chaeyoung, and she was really nice. She told me to talk to you.”

“Oh, you know Chaeng!” exclaims Jisoo excitedly, before frowning. “Then why on Earth did you sit next to Jennie, if you were looking for me? Scratch that, why would you sit next to Jennie even if you weren’t looking for me? She doesn’t really give off welcoming vibes.”

Lisa can only shrug a shoulder in agreement. “Um, about that. Chaeyoung told me you were a pretty Korean girl, and the first one of those I saw when I walked in was Jennie.” She shudders. “Unwelcoming is an understatement. That girl is seriously… well…”

“You thought _Jennie_ was me?!” Jisoo nearly falls over laughing, shoving Lisa to the side. “Teen model Jennie Kim? Class president Jennie Kim? Total bitch Jennie Kim?”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Lisa’s relieved that Jisoo shares her opinion of Jennie, which she’d censored earlier to avoid possibly offending her new friend. “I started to suspect something when she told me to shut up and got the message after she shoved her binder in my face.”

Even after Chaeyoung finds them and tries to shake some sense into her, Jisoo laughs all the way through the ten-minute break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for reading! leave kudos/comments if you enjoyed it.
> 
> (Chapter title is from "Ddu Du Ddu Du".)


	2. the girl you've always heard about

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Exes and explanations.

Lunch is a new experience for Lisa.

First of all, the sheer number of students is unreal. Her previous school in Thailand had a grand total of five teachers, one for each subject, and about fifty students. On the other hand, KP High isn’t just any public school, it’s one of the best and biggest in the area. Lisa noticed how crammed the hallways had been between classes, but seeing all these people all gathered in one area is a lot more dramatic.

There has to be at least a thousand students eating lunch in the central area of the school (they call it the “quad,” according to Chaeyoung). The quad has an upper and lower part; the upper is surrounded by six two-storied classroom buildings. Grassy slopes, sectioned off from each other by stairs, descend into the lower quad, which is backed against the wall of the gym. That wall somehow folds into an outdoor stage, which Lisa supposes is meant for school performances.

Another difference is the lunch lines. At least twenty students line up in each of the eight lunch lines, leaving with a slice of pizza or a salad box. Lisa’s used to a small cafeteria where one lunch lady puts a little bit of everything on each kid’s tray. At Praphamontree (her old school), parents paid the equivalent of $20,000 for a year’s tuition, covering meal costs among others. Today is the first day she’s eating something her mom packed for school lunch.

Lisa pokes at the fried rice in her thermos. She, Jisoo, and Chaeyoung are lounging on one of the layers of grass, relishing the cool shade a nearby tree provides. Mid-September really should not be this hot, but that’s southern California for you.

Neither of the other girls had second or third period— Biology and History, respectively— with her, but a quick schedule comparison shows that she and Chaeyoung share the next two, P.E. and English. Lisa has a free sixth (her parents were worried about the workload of a public school) with Jisoo, a member of the school soccer team. Lisa thought Chaeyoung and Jisoo would be happy to hear that, but instead they both wince.

“Lisa, we have a lot of classes together, but do you know who else is in these classes?” Chaeyoung exclaims. “Jennie! Including the free period, you have four classes with Jennie Kim!”

They both ignore Jisoo’s snickered, “You mean Jisoo Kim.”

Lisa lets out a long sigh, but she’s not too worried. “It’s not a big deal; I was just unlucky that I sat next to Jennie in math. I can avoid her in those classes. I mean, there’ll be over thirty people, it should be easy enough.”

Her friends roll their eyes at her naivety. In a pitying tone, Jisoo explains, “Our student body has been growing at an insane rate recently, so some of our classrooms barely fit twenty-five.”

“And you might have noticed that Jennie isn’t the most delightful person to sit next to. So guess where the only empty seat is in English?” adds Chaeyoung.

Lisa groans. “It’s next to Jennie, isn’t it? Why does this happen to me?”

“You should be honored to sit next to the great Jisoo Kim, Lisa.” It looks like Jisoo isn’t planning to forget Lisa’s earlier misstep anytime soon, though the joke has long grown old for her and Chaeyoung.

“At least you won’t have to sit next to her in P.E.,” Chaeyoung smiles in an attempt at comfort.

“And if you’re staying in the library during sixth, there’s usually lots of empty seats,” chimes in Jisoo. “I spend half the period there whenever we have a home game.”

Lisa still isn’t delighted with the situation. A sudden thought occurs to her: “Hey, you said earlier that Jennie is class president, right? If Jennie is that unpopular, how the hell was she elected?”

“Unpopular?” Jisoo and Chaeyoung exchange amused looks. Chaeyoung continues, “Lisa, Jennie is anything but unpopular.”

“But you said…” Lisa trails off, confused.

“People don't sit next to her because she doesn't want them to. As much as I hate to admit it, everyone knows Jennie's the smartest one in this school. They used to flock to her whenever teachers announced group projects.” Chaeyoung snorts. “'Group,’ as if. I actually feel Jennie on this one. She carried that pathetic lot so hard until eleventh grade.”

Jisoo makes a strange expression. “I resent that.”

“Huh?” Lisa still doesn’t follow. “What happened in eleventh grade?”

“Nobody knows what prompted it, but Jennie finally put her foot down. The next time someone asked her for help, she destroyed them so hard that their hopes and dreams were crushed into powder.” Chaeyoung suddenly seems to be suppressing a smirk. “Poor Jisoo.”

“Ehhhh?!” The plot twist surprises Lisa. “Jisoo was one of those kids?”

“Excuse me, I was not,” denies Jisoo indignantly. “I wasn’t going to copy her answers or anything; I just wanted to ask if she could explain a concept to me. But since all Jennie cares about is herself, she didn’t even bother to listen to what I had to say.”

“Basically, Jisoo was in Jennie’s math class last year too,” says Chaeyoung. “At the start of second semester, neither of us knew Jennie past reputation, and Jisoo was totally failing math.”

“Hey!” Jisoo attempts to protest this criticism but receives only an unimpressed stare in return.

“Anyway, since she was about to flunk the class,” Chaeyoung resumes the story. “we both decided that she should ask Jennie for help. But when she finally got the courage to go up to her—”

“— Jennie slammed her books on the desk and announced to the whole class that she was done with imbeciles like me asking her so many questions, and that mine in particular was one of the stupidest ones she’d ever heard,” finishes Jisoo.

“That’s so horrible,” breathes Lisa, shocked. Sure, Jennie seemed unpleasant, but calling someone out like that in front of so many of their peers is on a whole new level. Especially since Jisoo legitimately wanted to learn.

Jisoo nods, “Exactly. Now you know why we don’t get along.”

“Understatement,” Chaeyoung comments under her breath; then, louder: “Jisoo takes pretty much every opportunity to antagonize Jennie now. Not that anything good ever comes of it!” She raises her voice at the last part, directing it specifically at Jisoo.

“Oh yeah, about that,” grimaces Jisoo. “I should warn you, hanging out with me and Chaeng isn’t gonna endear you to the popular kids here. Jennie hates us a lot, so…”

Lisa shrugs. “I don’t think I’d want to be friends with her anyway. I still don’t understand why she’s so popular though. Aren’t the smart kids always social outcasts or something?” (Her only sources are some T.V. shows she’s seen.)

“Not to stereotype, but yeah,” sighs Chaeyoung. “Except Jennie isn’t just smart. The girl is smoking hot. I think her mom was a model back in Korea, and Jennie’s followed her footsteps perfectly. It used to just be small brands, but recently she was picked up by Chanel or something, on magazines everywhere.”

“She’s objectively attractive,” acknowledges Lisa. “At least, until she opens her mouth and reveals all that ugly inside.”

“Nobody at this school cares about what’s inside, Lisa,” says Jisoo. “Jennie’s got it all: good looks, brains, and the perfect amount of bitchiness to keep her lackeys under control. She even had the jock boyfriend for a while, but that ended pretty quickly.”

“Speak of the devil,” mutters Chaeyoung.

A boisterous group of guys breaks out of the lunch lines and bounds down the stairs to their left, talking and laughing loudly. One of them, a cute boy with dyed hair and a toothy grin, runs over to the three girls.

“Hi Jisoo, Chaeyoung,” he greets, then looks at Lisa. “Hey, a new kid! I’m Jimin, nice to meet you.”

Another Korean kid. Lisa absentmindedly wonders if any students here are from her native country. She’s taken aback by his friendliness; it’s a change from Jennie, but undoubtedly a pleasant one. They shake hands. “I’m Lisa; I just moved here from Thailand.”

Jimin beams. “I love pad thai!”

“Seriously?” groan both Jisoo and Chaeyoung at Jimin’s weak attempt to connect.

“Thanks, I guess,” Lisa laughs. “You guys know each other?”

“Yeah, we’re pretty good friends, right?” Neither of the girls correct him, so he adds, “We’ve known each other since middle school!”

“Jimin was part of the boy’s soccer team. He still is, but it sucks now; the girl’s team is way better.” Jisoo claims smugly. “Isn’t that right, Captain?”

“Rude!” Jimin complains, but he’s smiling too. “We’re improving, okay?”

“Yo, Jimin, you gonna flirt all day or can we go?” yells one of the boys waiting on the stairs.

“Well, see you guys around. By the way, love the hair, Lisa!” Jimin taps his matching head and rejoins his friends, who make their way down to the stage in the lower quad. Lisa spots a familiar girl with pin-straight, long brown hair sitting among the students there and cringes.

“That’s Jennie’s ex-boyfriend?!” she splutters in surprise. “Why— how— what?”

“Key word there is ex,” says Jisoo. “Man, we gave him so much shit about that. So glad they broke up, but I honestly don’t know why he still hangs out with her.”

“It’s basically obligatory for all the popular kids to sit on the stage,” Chaeyoung points out. “Their whole friend group is there; he doesn’t really have any other choice.”

Lisa is still in shock. “How could someone so nice date such a…” She tries and fails to find a non-vulgar way to describe Jennie’s personality, but it just doesn’t exist.

“I have no idea,” says Jisoo. “I mean, pretty much everyone in the school expected the two popular Asians to date except for Chaeyoung and I. We were both totally surprised, especially since they got together _after_ the incident with me. I ranted to Jimin practically every day about how much I hated Jennie, and then he asked her out!”

“Besides,” Chaeyoung leans forward, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”

Lisa gazes down at the group around Jimin and Jennie. They’re elevated above the other students milling about in the quad, sprawled across the stage, unprotected from the spotlight of the sun overhead.

It's a show meant for the world to watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.
> 
> (Chapter title is from "Boombayah".)


	3. call me pretty and nasty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa and Jennie get up close and personal.

If there’s anything Lisa loves in the world besides her parents, friends, and cat, it has to be dance.

Back in Thailand, she'd been part of a competitive dance team, one of the best in her province. Lisa loves the way the music flows through her body when she moves, bass thrumming with the pounding of her feet and of her heart; loves the way dance makes her feel more than alive. Leaving that community behind had been one of the hardest parts of moving to America. Even now, she still hasn't found a suitable studio to join, and she feels that lack every day that passes.

Why does this matter? Well, dance is the only reason Lisa’s as fit as she is. P.E. is a class that hadn’t even existed in Praphamontree, so she definitely doesn’t feel mentally prepared for this period. The one upside is that she’s already used to the arguably most uncomfortable part of the period, changing in the locker room, thanks to years of hastily switching costumes backstage.

After Chaeyoung shows Lisa how to set her lock combination (123, because she’s uncreative like that), she takes out the school-provided P.E. clothing. What she finds are a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that are exceptionally hideous, garishly colored in—

“Pink?” Lisa sputters. “Hot pink? What do the boys think?”

“They don’t care,” says Chaeyoung, “because they don’t have to deal with it. Our school colors are black and pink, so take a guess what color their uniforms are.”

“Black,” realizes Lisa, “but that’s pretty sexist.”

“It’s also impractical, because black clothing for a class where we’re out in the sun all day? The guys get really hot, and I don’t mean that in the attractive way.”

Lisa shakes her head one more time at the unappealing uniform, before quickly stripping out of her clothes and slipping into it. She winces at the way it hangs off her body, appearing several sizes too large despite being the smallest size. She turns to Chaeyoung, who looks no better, and feels slightly reassured. “Who in their right mind would design something like this?”

Chaeyoung laughs, “I don’t know. It’s rather unique, isn’t it?”

“Unique?” She plucks at the hem of the shirt. “No, I’ve definitely seen this shape before— on a garbage bag!”

“Well then, you should feel right at home in it,” comes a voice from behind her, followed by a smattering of giggles.

Lisa spins on her heel to see (surprise, surprise) Jennie leaning against a row of lockers, surrounded by her posse. “Yeah? Like you look any…”

The words die in her throat. Unfortunately for Lisa, Jennie does look a lot better. She’s done _something_ with the shirt, trimming a few inches off the bottom and sleeves, folding in the waist at certain parts for a final product of a cute little crop top that looks like it came straight out of a fashion outlet. The same goes for the black shorts: what had previously been long enough to pass for basketball shorts is now transformed into girls’ running shorts— very short shorts.

That’s a lot of exposed skin on both parts, and Lisa feels her face burn, also not in the attractive way. Chaeyoung and Jisoo hadn’t been exaggerating; Jennie is, for lack of a better phrase, hot as hell. It’s fitting, because while the sexiness is definitely there, the rest is reminiscent of a creature from the pits of the underworld. Obviously, Lisa can’t say any of this to Jennie, so instead she turns back to her locker with her lips pressed tightly together.

Jennie seems to take this as surrender, which it is, because she strides right into Lisa’s personal space and slams her locker shut. “Listen up, _Lalisa_. Stay out of my way at this school and I won’t bother you. Otherwise…” She lets the word speak for itself.

“I wasn’t planning to get in anyone’s way. You’re the one in the way; I’m trying to open my locker here,” snaps Lisa, flustered by the other girl’s audacity and also by her proximity, because _damn_ , that body. What could make someone like Jennie this angry? Biting her lip, she grasps at the first idea that comes to her, no matter how ridiculous this is: jealousy. “Is this about Jimin or something?”

“Jimin?” Fleeting confusion passes over Jennie’s face. She gives Lisa a searching look, as if to say, _You really have no idea what I’m talking about?_ “No, this isn’t about Jimin.”

Chaeyoung steps between her and Jennie, glaring down at the girl, who is a lot shorter when she’s not wearing heels. “Leave her out of it. It’s literally only her first day, can you back off?”

Jennie glances at Lisa, then back at Chaeyoung. Apparently deciding that they’re telling the truth, Jennie steps to the side and watches Lisa put her clothes away. “Fine. But don’t forget this conversation, new kid.” With that, she makes her way out of the locker room, followed by a group of girls who all throw her and Chaeyoung dirty looks.

Lisa exhales slowly, “Okay, so let me guess. When you said Jisoo ‘antagonizes’ Jennie, you meant ‘gives it her all to piss her off every single day’, didn’t you?”

Chaeyoung nods sheepishly. “She can be really stubborn. Once she puts her mind to something, she won’t stop until she gets what she wants. And since what Jisoo wants is for Jennie to get what she has coming, which is never going to happen, she’ll never stop. It’s the same every time— some lame, petty prank that has no real consequence for Jennie and almost always a bad one for us.”

“I see… And what’s with the outfit?” Lisa makes a vague gesture with her hands that’s supposed to represent Jennie’s modified P.E. uniform. “Is that even allowed?”

“Nobody’s thought of doing it before, so there are no rules against it,” admits Chaeyoung. “Even if there were, it’s not like the teachers would care. Jennie’s their star pupil, well-behaved and popular.”

Amazingly, that star pupil is actually well-behaved for the rest of the period, ignoring both of the friends. The current unit of P.E. is badminton, which Lisa finds she isn’t too shabby at. She and Chaeyoung partner for doubles and win a few matches, only losing to a pair of guys from the tennis team.

With that over, English class should be the only remaining challenge. Lisa holds out hope that there’ll be more empty seats than just the one next to Jennie until the last second, but she’s let down as soon as she walks into the very full classroom. So once again, she ends up in the very front, next to her favorite person. Lisa’s relieved when Jennie doesn’t look up from where she’s absentmindedly thumbing through her book.

Two rows back, Chaeyoung holds two fingers up in a peace sign, looking simultaneously sympathetic and entertained.

“Hello, Lisa,” says their friendly teacher, a young woman who looks to be in her early thirties, “we just started a new unit, so there’s not much to catch up on. I understand that you just moved here from Thailand?”

“Yes,” Lisa confirms.

“In that case, the book may be a bit advanced, but lucky for you, your partner is very capable. Jennie?”

“Yeah, I’d love to help,” says Jennie in a completely sincere tone, choosing not to acknowledge Lisa’s skeptical stare.

The teacher smiles at her, pleased. “Alright! We don’t have an extra book at the moment, so you two will have to share.”

Jennie slides the book she’d been flipping through earlier towards Lisa, who scans the cover. _Tess of the d’Urbervilles_ , it reads, _A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented_. The summary sounds pretty depressing, but oh well.

The teacher gives them half an hour to start reading the novel, most of which Lisa spends struggling to comprehend the large vocabulary words littered throughout each page. She may have studied English for years, but she’s still no native speaker. But she isn’t brave enough to ask her tablemate about them, recalling Jisoo’s traumatic experience as well as her own. Besides, Jennie looks lost in her own world; after Lisa read the first page, she’d checked to see if the other girl had finished as well, but Jennie’d just waved a hand at her and murmured, “I’ve already read it, go on.”

Sitting this close to her, with Jennie actually relaxed instead of all riled up and contemptuous, Lisa can kind of understand what made Jimin (and apparently a lot of guys in the school) go for her. The complentative expression she’s wearing right now softens the hostile resting face she usually has, creating an air of, dare she say it, _cuteness_. There’s just something unexpectedly alluring about the way someone can go from a mode of complete dominance to this quiet vulnerability.

It’s a pity that none of these newfound realizations change her awful personality, as Lisa is reminded when Jennie catches her staring and scowls, “Eyes off, creep.”

Lisa stares determinedly at her book for the rest of class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so. much. drama. and the first day isn't even over!
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, chapter title is from "As If It's Your Last". Happy 4th of July if you celebrate!


	4. the girl next to you is an idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of checking out Jennie, Lisa checks out her book.

“Welcome to our library!” declares Jisoo, making a grand sweeping gesture in front of her.

“Okay,” says Lisa, who doesn’t really have enough energy for more.

Jisoo looks a bit put out by her lackluster reply, but persists, “This is where I usually sit. It’s the best table in the whole room: there’s some light coming in through the window, but not too much.” She looks at Lisa to see if she’s impressed.

“Mhm,” hums Lisa.

Jisoo pulls a face, flopping into the seat and dropping her things. “What’s got you acting all depressed?”

“Classes with Jennie,” Lisa says, “and also, the book we’re reading in English. It’s so boring…”

“Let me guess, _Tess_?” sighs Jisoo. “We did that book last unit. Heh… just wait till you get further in, you’ll definitely be more depressed.”

“Great,” Lisa grumbles. Something behind her seems to catch Jisoo’s eye, because the other girl suddenly scrambles to lean across the table and over her shoulder.

“Speaking of books,” murmurs her friend with a devilish grin, “what is Jennie reading over there?”

Lisa pivots in her chair to see the other girl a few tables down, apparently engrossed in a novel. “I have a different question: how about we don’t get involved with her for ONE PERIOD?” she suggests in a completely calm, casual tone. “I’ve had enough drama for my first day at this school.”

Before Jisoo can reply, a quiet voice makes both of them start. “Excuse me.”

A boy whose hair color is only a shade darker than Chaeyoung's stands by their table, backpack slung over a shoulder. He looks as dead inside as Lisa feels. “You’re in my seat.”

“You are excused,” snaps Jisoo. “This is my seat!”

The boy huffs skeptically. “I’ve sat here practically every day for the past two years.”

Well, this boy may have saved Lisa from another interaction involving Jennie, but certainly not from more drama. “Jisoo, I thought you said _you_ usually sat here.” she interrupts, hoping to quickly resolve this affair and get some peace and quiet to catch up with her schoolwork.

“I do!” Jisoo sputters indignantly. “Well… maybe only on soccer days.” She glares back at the boy, who seems decidedly more irritated than before. “How come I never see you then, huh?”

His expression suddenly becomes embarrassed, before returning to annoyance. “I’m a… fan of the sport. I don’t come here when our school has a match because I go to watch the games instead.”

What a lovely coincidence. Lisa is not up for any more discussion, so she just points at one of the remaining two chairs and says, “Just sit here, we’ll try to be quiet.”

“Nope!” Jisoo sweeps her binder off the desk and into one of the chairs and props her feet onto the other just as he’s about to sit down. “All taken. Unless you do us a favor, Mr…?”

“Min. Min Yoongi.” Now he just looks amused.

“Okay, Mr. Min. See that girl over there?” Jisoo jabs a pencil in Jennie’s direction. “If you can find out what book she’s reading, you can sit here. Otherwise, you’ll have to find a new seat, ‘cause I’m gonna be here every day now that I have a friend with me.”

Lisa shakes her head in despair. Looks like Yoongi hadn’t saved her from trouble with Jennie after all.

“That’s Jennie Kim though,” Yoongi notes. “Extremely popular Jennie Kim. Notoriously doesn't-want-to-be-bothered Jennie Kim. And you want me to… find out what book she’s reading? Why don’t you just walk over there yourself?”

“Um, I’m Jisoo.”

“Ah.” Suddenly, Yoongi seems a lot less confused. “The infamous Jisoo ‘most moronic question I’ve ever been asked’ Kim.”

“Everyone's heard about that?” asks Lisa. “What a horrible way to be known.”

“Thanks, Lisa,” Jisoo says sarcastically. “Exactly why I’m still not over it— because the rest of the school isn’t.”

“And what if I don’t do it?” challenges Yoongi, bringing the girls’ attention back to him.

Jisoo curls a lock of hair around her finger, inspecting it. “Then say goodbye to the best seat in the room.”

Yoongi looks to Lisa, clearly hoping for someone to stop this insanity. When all he gets in return is a half-hearted shrug, he gives in with an exaggerated sigh, dropping his bag on the floor and heading off towards Jennie’s table. Jisoo watches his retreating back with a self-satisfied smile, and Lisa can do nothing but stare at her in disbelief.

“Won’t she kill him?” she says, and she’s only half-joking. Her fears clearly aren’t baseless, as Jennie looks up at Yoongi’s approach with narrowed eyes. But Lisa and Jisoo end up observing in amazement as he speaks to her, flailing his arms about in a helpless manner, until Jennie smiles at him and closes her book, showing him the cover. She even waves goodbye as Yoongi walks back to their table.

“It’s called Pachinko,” he tells them, smirking smugly. “May I have my seat now?”

Jisoo slides her feet off the chair. “All yours!”

Yoongi takes it and then addresses Lisa, resting his head on one hand. “Alright, I know this is Jisoo ‘most moronic question’ Kim, but who are you? Not to be rude, but I’ve never seen you around before.”

“I’m new. Lalisa Manoban,” Lisa says for the fiftieth time that day, “but you can call me Lisa.”

“So not Korean or Japanese,” Yoongi deduces correctly, “then you must not know what Pachinko is.”

“Pa- _chin_ -ko!” Jisoo draws out the middle syllable in the universal sound for money, pretending to pull a lever with one hand. A few people glance over, so she tones it down a little. “It’s a game that looks like pinball, but it’s actually a lot different. My uncle in Japan owns a parlor, it’s really big over there.”

“I see,” says Lisa, not really seeing. “Didn’t have Jennie _pinned_ down as someone into things like that.”

She pouts when nobody laughs at her hilarious joke.

“That’s because she isn’t,” drawls Yoongi. “I doubt it’s a manual for the game, seeing as how there was a National Book Award medal on the cover.”

“Whatever. Nobody cares what Jennie’s reading about anyway,” Jisoo announces.

Lisa is bewildered. “But you’re the one who asked…”

“I just asked for the title.” Jisoo dismisses this observation. “Moving on. Yoongi, are you a senior too? I don’t remember seeing you in any of my classes.”

“Yeah, I’m in twelfth. And I was in your history class last year, Jisoo, now that I think about it.” Yoongi informs. “I never did find out your name, mostly because you were usually sleeping and didn’t ever participate.”

“What?” Lisa can’t help but laugh. “Jisoo, seriously? Are you like this in all your classes?”

“No! But Mr. Sowers was a really boring teacher, okay.” (Yoongi concedes this with a nod.) “Besides, I ended that with an A, so who cares. Jeez, Lisa, you’re getting the wrong impression of me. I’m not failing _all_ my classes, just math. I usually get average grades in the other ones. Well, except physics last semester; that class had way too much math in it.”

“What do you have in math?” questions Lisa, genuinely curious.

“At the moment?” Jisoo coughs awkwardly. “I think I have a 60% or something.”

Lisa manages to stop herself from gasping in horror. “Wow. That’s…”

“Very bad,” Yoongi says bluntly. “That’s not even a D, it’s a D-. A low D-. What the hell are you doing?”

“I don’t know!” wails Jisoo in despair. “I literally have no idea what I’m doing in that class every day! Last year I managed to end with a C-, but right now…”

“You should look into tutoring,” advises Lisa. “Do you guys have that here?”

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you’re new,” says Jisoo. “Yeah, we have peer tutoring, but the only students who volunteer are like, Jennie, and some sketchy guys who I’m pretty sure are failing themselves. And the first option is obviously a no, so.”

“Isn’t passing that class more important than your feud thing with Jennie?” wonders Yoongi. “Which seems pretty one-sided, by the way.”

“Everyone knows about that too?” Lisa asks, surprised, over Jisoo’s indignant spluttering. “How big is this ‘feud’?”

“Well, I don’t really know anything about what Jisoo does to make Jennie so mad all the time, so it must be pretty useless or ineffective,” Yoongi answers over more spluttering. “But she’s been publicly humiliated about four times already since school started a month ago, and even more last year. So yes, most people know.”

Jisoo finally manages to get a word in edgewise. “One-sided? Useless?! _Ineffective_?!” She glowers at Yoongi. “Is that really what people think of our war?”

“War?” echo both Lisa and Yoongi.

“More like massacre,” corrects the latter, completely deadpan.

For the rest of the free period, both of them are forced to ignore Jisoo’s dark muttering. When the bell rings at last, signaling the end of the day, she slams her hand on the table and growls, “Neither of you are moving until I tell you to,” before leaving the table.

Lisa glances over at Yoongi, who appears completely done with Jisoo’s antics. His face makes Lisa starts to laugh, certain that Jisoo has more dramatics planned. She stops abruptly when Jisoo returns with three copies of _Pachinko_.

“Jisoo, now what?” Lisa is seriously concerned. “Do you want to graffiti Jennie’s book or something? Because that’s library property, right, and I don’t want to get into trouble with the school.”

“Please, don’t mind me,” Yoongi starts to sidle off, seeing the number of copies and coming to the realization that whatever Jisoo has in mind will doubtless involve him. “Just going to…”

Jisoo grabs him by the sleeve of his jacket and yanks him back. “No, we are not going to deface the books. Just follow me.”

Relieved that they won’t become vandals, Lisa complies with Jisoo’s orders, as does Yoongi with an exaggerated eye-roll. They end up at the librarian’s desk, making Lisa even more confused.

“Hi!” greets Jisoo cheerfully. “My friends and I would like to check out these three copies of _Pachinko_ , one for each of us. We’re doing a group project.”

The librarian hums in assent and scans each of their provided school ID cards. Once each of them has a copy in hand, Lisa whispers loudly, “Why did we check this out? I have zero interest in pinball.”

“It’s not pinball,” sulks Yoongi from the side.

“You see,” Jisoo grins, “Jennie didn’t finish reading this book. I saw her write down something on a post-it note before returning it to the shelf, probably the page number. And these are the only three copies of _Pachinko_ that our school library has, one of which Jennie just returned a few minutes ago. Now that we checked out all the copies, she’ll never be able to finish it!”

Yoongi slaps a hand to his forehead. “This is exactly what I meant by useless and ineffective. She’ll just go to a public library and check it out! And once she finds out who took these three copies, she’s going to kill us. I’m out.” He starts to head back to the librarian.

“If you return that, I’ll get someone else to check it out and tell Jennie that you were in on our plan!” shouts Jisoo at his back. “You’re incriminated because you asked her about the book!”

Yoongi pauses, then turns on his heel and rejoins Jisoo and Lisa. “You’re kind of evil, you know,” he mumbles. “When we all get screwed over, just remember it’s Jisoo’s fault.”

“Jennie won’t catch us, you crybaby,” reassures Jisoo confidently. “How could she find out who checked them out? The librarian has to keep it confidential or whatever. We’ll be fine.”

For some reason, Lisa doesn’t think so, but she doesn’t say anything. It feels like a mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so this chapter is also relatively light-hearted (yay, yoongi!) but there will definitely be some heavier stuff later on.
> 
> Title is from "See U Later", because really, Jisoo, what are you doing?


	5. been a bad girl, i know i am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie doesn't leave survivors.

Spoiler alert: it was a mistake.

So far, Lisa’s second day at school is going by without incident. In math, she moves to the back, next to Jisoo. There’s actually an empty seat there, which Lisa assumes is because nobody wants to be the table partner of someone failing the class— a thought she keeps to herself. She hangs out with Chaeyoung and Jisoo again at lunch, and the three start to get into an easy rhythm of friendship.

Even during P.E., when she and Chaeyoung lose in badminton to Jennie and one of her friends, their opponents thankfully make no snide remark. English is spent doing individual analysis, and now that Lisa has her own book, she hardly has to interact with Jennie.

Her day is going so well, until she walks into the library for sixth period.

Jisoo and Yoongi are already at “the best seats in the entire room”: the former leaning back in her chair with her feet propped up and a pleased grin on her face, the latter with his head face down on the table.

“Look!” Jisoo nods her head toward one of the nearby bookshelves, in front of which Jennie is standing with a confused frown. “She’s already noticed that _Pachinko_ is missing.”

The book in question mysteriously becomes heavier in Lisa’s backpack.

“I can’t look,” moans Yoongi into the table, voice muffled. “We’re going to die.”

They watch in silence as Jennie looks over the shelf again, then heads to the librarian’s table. Lisa strains to eavesdrop and hears Jennie say, “Excuse me, ma’am, but do you know what happened to the copies of _Pachinko_ , by Min Jin Lee? There were three yesterday, and they’re all gone now. Were they possibly misplaced?”

The librarian shakes her head. “No, they were all checked out.”

Jennie thanks her, looking disappointed, then starts to head back to her table. As she passes by, Jisoo whips out her copy of the book and says extremely loudly, “Hey guys, isn’t this book great? Pachinko is such a fun game!”

Which just tells Lisa that she hasn’t even looked into the book, because Lisa’s read a few chapters and she could instantly tell that Yoongi was right: it’s not just a manual for pachinko. Still, at the mention of the title, Jennie’s head swivels slowly, terrifyingly, towards the three.

(In the back of her mind, Lisa remembers Jisoo saying something like, “How could Jennie find out we’re the ones who checked it out? We’ll be fine!” and kind of regrets all her life decisions.)

Yoongi lifts his head just in time to see Jennie approaching their table in a manner reminiscent of circling sharks, and he instantly puts it back down again. “Please don’t recognize me.”

“Why do you have this?” hisses Jennie dangerously, snatching the book out of Jisoo’s grasp. “Did you check out all three copies just to screw with me?”

“Excuse me,” Jisoo feigns indignation, “this novel is a literary masterpiece which I simply wanted to read. Not everything is about you, Jennie. Now give that back before I report you for theft.”

Jennie hands it over reluctantly. “And the other two copies, then?”

“Well, the book is so amazing that I just had to recommend it to Lisa and Yoongi here.”

Lisa shrinks back in her chair as Jennie notices them for the first time. Her scowl deepens when Yoongi sits up and coughs uncomfortably. “You! No wonder you asked me what I was reading; I can’t believe I fell for that.”

“Who’s the idiot now?” smirks Jisoo.

Jennie’s fist clenches, as if she’s debating between grabbing the book back from Jisoo or punching her in the face, then relaxes as she takes a breath and regains her composure. Her expression is frigid when she says, “You think you’re so _clever_ , don’t you, Jisoo Kim? Talking about idiots when you have the worst grade in our year. There’s nothing special about you.”

“In your opinion,” spits Jisoo. “Pretty little model whose mother bought her career.”

“I don’t need modeling to stand out,” retorts Jennie, brushing off the accusation. “Meanwhile, you don’t excel in any classes, at least not in the positive way. Your soccer abilities are mediocre at best, and you’ll likely be kicked off the team next semester for not meeting academic requirements. I could threaten to speed up the process, but I think I’d prefer to watch your pathetic attempts to pull that grade up. Admit it, Jisoo, you’re a failure in every sense of the word and—”

“Okay, can you stop?” Lisa intervenes, holding up a hand, unable to watch any longer as Jisoo’s face pales steadily with every word. “It was just a harmless prank. You need to loosen up.”

Jennie turns on her. “Lisa Manoban. I thought I told you to stay out of my way.”

“You did,” acknowledges Lisa, “but this isn’t even a big deal. Can’t you just check out the book somewhere else?”

“I don’t—” Jennie cuts herself off abruptly. She takes a step back from the table and considers the three of them. “Fine. Here’s what’s going to happen: you have until lunchtime tomorrow to return the book. I hope you make the right choice.”

She leaves them staring after her in stunned silence. Jisoo finally recovers her voice and lets out a shaky breath, “Okay, I’m definitely not returning the book.”

Lisa and Yoongi are quiet.

\----

The next day, Yoongi catches Lisa in the hallway before first period. “Hey, I’ve been thinking—”

“—that we should probably return the book?” Lisa finishes, glancing around to make sure Jisoo isn’t in earshot. “Yeah, same here. Jennie didn’t seem like she was joking.”

“Jennie never jokes,” says Yoongi. “Are you going to do it now?”

“Well,” Lisa hesitates. The thing is, she’s actually started to get pretty invested in the story, which is interesting and well-written. “I sort of want to finish the book first.”

“You’re actually reading it?” Yoongi asks, astonished. “It’s really long; you definitely won’t be able to by lunchtime.”

“Why don’t you just return your copy?” proposes Lisa. “All Jennie needs is one.”

Yoongi mulls over the idea for a second, then nods in agreement. “Alright, I’ll go at lunch.”

Glad that’s resolved, Lisa enters math class with a noticeably lighter heart. She plops down in her seat and grins at an unsuspecting Jisoo, who has no idea about the pact Lisa and Yoongi just made. Well, what Jisoo doesn’t know won’t hurt her; in fact, she’ll be better off this way. They’re safe now.

\----

They aren’t safe, because Lisa was uncreative and chose an extremely unsafe password for her locker.

The first thing that hits her when she and Chaeyoung walk into the locker room after lunch is the smell. “Oh my god, what died in here?” coughs her friend, waving a hand in front of her nose. The stench only worsens as they near the third row. Then Lisa opens her locker, and a whole lot of things hit her.

It’s _trash_. Her locker has been stuffed with plastic bags full of molding banana peels, half-eaten pizza crusts, candy wrappers, and soggy milk cartons. Half of them tumbled out, covering her shirt in the filth while Chaeyoung gapes from a few feet away; she’d managed to sidestep the torrent. Lisa spits out whatever had entered her open mouth and pulls out the fashionable P.E. T-shirt from its crammed position behind the bags. Someone even put trash inside of it, which is just plain disgusting.

Lisa would be willing to bet all her money on who that someone is, but it turns out she doesn’t have to. As she forces the locker door shut against what remaining garbage threatens to spill out, Jennie’s laughter rings out, clear and taunting, “You were right. It does look a lot like a garbage bag!”

Something ugly bubbles up in Lisa’s chest like molten rock, searing the words from her throat. The nervous giggles of the bystanders seem to amplify, bouncing off the rows of metal compartments back into her ears, which are hot with humiliation. She erupts with a bang of her locker door, slamming it back open and tugging out an armful of trash bags. Lisa turns around and hurls them into Jennie’s face.

Which, like the practical joke that started this whole mess, turns out to be rather useless and ineffective. Warned by the clang of Lisa’s locker, Jennie succeeds in dodging the worst of the sudden assault, which splatters over the floor with the exception of one used napkin that drifts out and clings to her hair. She doesn’t break eye contact with Lisa as she flicks her ponytail, easily dislodging the paper. “Bad move. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Yeah? So was covering my things with this shit,” Lisa seethes, stepping out of the way so Jennie can observe the damage done to her locker. Before, Jisoo’s hatred of this girl had seemed unnecessary and borderline obsessive, but now it’s understandable. “I gave you your goddamn book!”

Jennie’s lip curls as she leans away from the escaping odor of spoiled food and mildew. “You didn’t give me the book, Yoongi did. I saw him in the library at lunch.”

“You only need one copy!” argues Lisa.

This earns another laugh. Jennie takes a step closer, apparently forgetting about the smell. “If I ask for three copies, that’s what I need. If I tell you to return a book to the library, that’s what you need to do.”

Before Lisa can give this girl what she actually needs, which is a good punch in the face, someone knocks on the locker room door. It’s their P.E. coach: “Is everything alright in there? You should be done changing by now; warm-ups were supposed to start a few minutes ago.”

There’s a second of silence where the rest of the girls look to Jennie, and Lisa considers revealing the truth of the situation, but it passes when Jennie claps a hand over her mouth and calls back, “Yeah, Mr. Tracy. Someone left food in their locker and it went bad, so we’re just cleaning it up.”

“Hmm," comes the clearly suspicious reply. "That shouldn’t take all seventeen of you. Whoever left it can clean it up; the rest of you, get out here.” His footsteps recede from the door.

Jennie removes her hand from Lisa’s mouth and backs up, wiping it on her shorts gingerly. The class slowly filters out to the gym, more than a few throwing her sympathetic glances. Chaeyoung stays behind.

“Thanks,” says Lisa quietly as the two of them tug the plastic bags out and dump them into a bin.

Chaeyoung waves her off, “Don’t mention it.” She points at Lisa’s shirt. “Um… you should really take your shirt off. It’s kind of disgusting. ”

“I noticed,” Lisa grimaces, “but so is my P.E. uniform. I have nothing to change into.”

As Chaeyoung ponders over this dilemma, a familiar tune echoes through the empty room. Lisa scans the surroundings for the source but fails to locate it. “Hey, Chaeyoung, is that your phone?”

“Sounds like it,” says Chaeyoung, dusting off her hands. She grabs the phone from her bag and looks at the name flashing on her screen. “It’s Jisoo.”

“Jisoo? Isn’t she in class?”

Chaeyoung nods and answers the call, “What’s up?”

Loud screeching that Lisa can hear despite the fact that Jisoo isn’t on speaker blasts out. Chaeyoung nearly drops the phone, holding it away from her ear. She waits a few seconds before cautiously bringing it back. “Are you okay? … Oh, same here; she put trash in Lisa’s locker… yeah, P.E.”

Once she hangs up, Lisa asks, “Did Jennie get to her too?”

“Sounds like it,” says Chaeyoung. “I couldn’t really tell because she was talking really fast, but she’s definitely upset. I think she’s coming over here now.”

“Now?” squeaks Lisa. “But class!”

Chaeyoung shrugs. “Did Jisoo really strike you as the type of person to care?”

She has a point. Less than a minute later, Jisoo bursts into the room, red-faced and panting. “That bitch!” she exclaims, stomping her way over to Lisa. “She— ew, you smell disgusting.”

“Thanks,” says Lisa dryly. “What’d she do to you?”

“My soccer jersey!” Jisoo fumes. “Look what she did to it!”

From a bag Lisa hadn’t noticed earlier, she pulls out the article of clothing— also pink, though significantly more aesthetically appealing than the trash-stained one in Lisa’s locker. On both the back and the front, across their school logo and Jisoo’s number, it now sports an enormous letter scribbled in thick black marker: F.

“First of all, I don’t even have an F in math; it’s a low D-, okay? And second, my fucking jersey!” Jisoo hurls the offending item across the room into one of the lockers, then takes a deep breath. “Anyway, I brought this over because I figured you might need it.”

“This” turns out to be more articles of clothing from the bag. There’s both a P.E. shirt and a regular one, smelling of laundry detergent and not garbage.

“Wow,” Lisa says, surprised and grateful. “Why do you have these?”

“My mom ordered the school supply package at the beginning of the year,” Jisoo explains, “but I ended up not taking P.E. after I got into varsity soccer. And I always keep an extra shirt with me in case I feel extra disgusting after practice. It might be a bit small; you’re taller than me.”

“It’s better than nothing.” Lisa peels off the slightly wet, extremely disgusting shirt she’s wearing.

“Here,” Chaeyoung pops back up at Lisa’s side and offers her a bundle of damp paper towels. “Clean yourself up.”

Lisa does so, then pulls on Jisoo’s shirt. It fits a little snugly, but she doesn’t mind. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jisoo grins, before the smile slips from her face and she crosses the room to pick up her discarded jersey. “I gotta head back to class now; my teacher is probably wondering what the fuck I’m doing in the bathroom.”

“Thanks!” Lisa yells after her again as she leaves. She and Chaeyoung head out as well, finding the rest of the class stretching on the basketball courts. Jennie catches her eye by accident, seemingly surprised to see Lisa changed in clean clothes, then drops her gaze.

All the anger that Jisoo’s unexpectedly touching assistance had dissipated returns in a flash. Jennie doesn’t even have the guts or the decency to look at her after that little show back there.

They don’t play badminton; it’s a bit of a letdown because Lisa would have particularly enjoyed smashing things with a racquet at the moment. Instead, they have the weekly mile, which is almost as good. Lisa clenches her jaw, ignores the stinging sweat in her eyes and the protests of her muscles, and _runs_. She sprints the first two laps much too fast to be reasonable but forces herself to match that speed for the last two, outstripping the entire class.

Jennie watches Lisa pass with an unreadable expression and finishes her own fourth lap seconds after. They’re the only two girls for a while— the rest are nearly half a lap back— but Jennie doesn’t even glance in her direction the entire minute they stand there, catching their breath.

This turns out to be something of a trend. Jennie spends the entirety of English hiding behind _Tess_ , even when the teacher tells the class to discuss the chapter with their table partners. Lisa thinks that when she’s not in her element or surrounded by supporters, Jennie’s a pretty pathetic bully. One who practically flees as soon as the bell rings, leaving Lisa dragging her exhausted feet all the way to the library, where she’s greeted by a furious Jisoo and a guilty Yoongi.

“Do you know what this traitor was doing while we were suffering? He returned his book!” accuses Jisoo. “I came in after all that just to see Jennie happily reading _Pachinko_.”

“Lisa knew about it,” Yoongi mutters.

Lisa gulps as Jisoo directs a deadly glare at her. “I thought it would be better! Not that it made a difference…”

“Hmph,” Jisoo apparently decides that Lisa’s suffered enough for today. “Well, now you know. Jennie doesn’t leave survivors, unless you surrender and join her side like _Yoongi here._ ”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, unfazed by Jisoo’s pointed comment. “Whatever, at least I didn’t have to go through whatever you two did. Which was what, by the way?”

It’s a beautiful afternoon, with the sun bobbing contentedly in an uninterrupted sea of blue. Light streams through the window panes, illuminating shafts of dust that glint bright white, like suspended snow. Jisoo gears up to start another rant; Yoongi snickers through the whole thing.

Lisa opens _Pachinko_ to chapter six and starts to read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a lot longer, oops. Chapter title is from "Boombayah".
> 
> As always, thanks for reading!


	6. so easily, with harsh words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisoo makes several mistakes, and this time not just in math class.

“So, how was your first week of school?” Lisa’s mom asks, scooping more rice into her bowl.

Lisa chews, swallows, opens her mouth to speak, and then takes a sip of water instead.

Her dad chuckles, “That bad, huh?”

“No, no,” Lisa shakes her head, “just…different.” Which it was, very much so from her intimate little academy back in Thailand.

“Well, that’s normal,” her mom says, relieved. “Did you make any friends?”

“A few.” Lisa puts down her chopsticks. “I met two girls, Chaeyoung and Jisoo; they both seem nice enough, though Jisoo’s sometimes a little much. There’s also a guy who hangs out with Jisoo and I during sixth, Yoongi— oh, and Jimin, but we haven’t talked much.”

“Sounds good!” Her dad pats her on the shoulder. “Your mom and I have some good news for you too.”

“What is it?” Lisa hums, distracted by the purring ball of fur that’s just rubbed up against her legs. She discreetly smuggles Leo a chunk of fish, scratching fondly between his ears as he nibbles at it.

“We found a studio nearby,” he reveals. “They have a competitive team that’s pretty accomplished, but you’ll have to audition and catch up on a lot of the choreo.”

“Never a problem for you, Lisa,” remarks her mom proudly.

“Mom!” Lisa ducks her head at the unsolicited compliment and addresses her next question to her dad instead, “That’s great! When is the audition?”

“Tomorrow.”

Lisa accidentally squishes Leo’s face in shock and he hisses, stalking away to sulk. “Tomorrow?! I don’t have any time to prepare.”

“Honey, you’ll do fine,” reassures her mom, patting her arm. “Just dance your solo part from the last competition. You practiced it a lot and it’ll go great, trust me.”

\----

“What’d everyone do over the weekend?” asks Chaeyoung, plunking herself down on the grass next to Jisoo. “Anything exciting for your first here, Lisa?”

“Yes, actually,” answers Lisa, who has been waiting all morning to talk about this. “I auditioned for a dance studio here and got into their competitive team!”

“Nice!” applauds Jisoo. “You must be super talented. Meanwhile, I haven’t danced since the incident in third grade…”

Chaeyoung bursts out laughing. “Jisoo, we promised not to talk about that again. Anyway, that’s great, Lisa. Dance seems fun enough, but also hard. No wonder you’re so in shape.”

Lisa blushes. “You and Jisoo are fit too. And way more attractive.” She lets an envious tone enter her voice. It’s true, too. Jisoo is simply stunning in the visual department and Chaeyoung has a charm to her that is strikingly appealing.

“Maybe Jisoo is, but not me,” says Chaeyoung, at the same time that Jisoo says, “Nah, just Chaeng.”

They look at each other awkwardly and then at the ground.

Lisa clears her throat and steers the conversation in a different direction. “Chaeyoung, what do you like to do in your free time? I know Jisoo has soccer; do you play any sports?”

“I’m more into music,” Chaeyoung replies, tearing her gaze away from the floor. “I play the piano and guitar.”

“Oh, like classical?” Lisa questions, not exactly an expert on the topic. Her understanding of instruments stops at the recorder, which she learned with the rest of her class in kindergarten.

“No, no. I mean, I can play classical, but I like to…” Chaeyoung hesitates, as if unsure whether she wants to reveal this much, “…sing, I guess. And write sometimes, though my songs are usually bad.”

“That’s really cool,” says Lisa honestly. “I bet they’re pretty good; I’d love to hear them someday.”

“By the way, Lisa,” Jisoo cuts in across Chaeyoung’s pleased flush, “do you have my shirt from last week? I’d let you keep it, but it cost a heck of a lot.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lisa digs around in her backpack and pulls out the freshly laundered shirt. “Here. I have your P.E. shirt too, wait a sec. I got mine cleaned, so I don’t need it anymore.”

“It’s fine; you keep it.” Jisoo folds up her shirt and stuffs it away. “I’m never gonna wear that thing, it’s hideous. Plus, who knows when you and Chaeng might need a spare with that demon in your class.”

The reminder triggers a twinge of anger in Lisa, who swallows it down along with a forkful of salad. “I still can’t believe she _did_ that.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” snorts Jisoo. “There was the time with the eggs—”

“Not fun to clean up,” comments Chaeyoung offhandedly.

“—the desk graffiti—”

“Also not fun to clean up.”

“—and the Snapchat scandal.”

“Not remotely cleanable,” Chaeyoung tells her. “The point is, Lisa, Jennie is capable of a lot more. That little show with the trash? She probably just told her followers what she wanted done and they did it. I doubt she even got her hands dirty.”

This brings to mind something Jennie had mentioned in the library, before it was forgotten with the whole _Pachinko_ mess. “Then could she really get Jisoo kicked off the soccer team?”

“What’s this?” Chaeyoung looks to Jisoo. “Jennie wants you off the team?”

Jisoo shrugs, nonchalant. “She was just pissed. I doubt she’d do anything that drastic.”

“She wouldn’t do anything at all if you just left it alone,” says Chaeyoung severely, the levity from earlier suddenly gone. “Jisoo, you really should take things like this more seriously. Soccer is your best bet at college acceptance. What would you do if Jennie got you kicked off, huh?”

“Jeez, what are you, my mom?” mutters Jisoo under her breath.

Lisa intervenes before Chaeyoung can offer a retort. “How would she even make that happen?”

“Who knows?” Chaeyoung runs an agitated hand through her hair. “Maybe tell the teachers she saw Jisoo cheating on midterms, have her friends back her up. It doesn’t matter, and I don’t want to find out.”

Jisoo groans loudly. “Chaeng, again, Jennie wouldn’t actually do something that extreme.”

“Who even knows what Jennie would or wouldn’t do?” There’s no good answer to the question, so Chaeyoung goes on uninterrupted. “Jisoo, promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”

Jisoo mumbles something so quietly it’s indecipherable.

“What?”

“… I said, too late.”

“Jisoo!” Chaeyoung’s eyebrows draw together thunderously. “Tell me you didn’t.”

Caught between them, Lisa holds her breath. She doesn’t dare to get involved this time; Chaeyoung’s usually pleasant features are tense with anticipation and fury.

Jisoo’s shoulders slump. “I can’t, because I already did this morning. I couldn’t let Jennie get away with what she did to my jersey! And Lisa’s locker… just— just watch out for her today.”

All the aggression seeps from Chaeyoung like melted snow into the dirt. “Oh, my god.”

\----

“Oh, my god!” yelps Jennie when she sees her locker.

“Is it trash?” Chaeyoung asks, eyes squeezed shut, resting her forehead on the cool metal of her own locker. “Please tell me it’s not trash again.”

Lisa cranes her neck to observe. “It’s trash.”

Jisoo was a lot less thorough with the job than Jennie. Unable to guess Jennie’s passcode, she simply taped several bags of trash to the outside. To finish it off, and, Lisa supposes, as a reference to her own ruined jersey, the word “TRASH” is fittingly scrawled over the locker in permanent marker.

Jennie whirls around and storms over to Lisa and Chaeyoung. “This is the last straw. Tell Jisoo she—”

“It wasn’t Jisoo,” Chaeyoung cuts her off with resignation. “It was me.” Lisa and Jennie both look at her incredulously, because it was obviously Jisoo.

Chaeyoung grits her teeth and summons up whatever acting ability she has. “You thought I would just stand by as you messed with two of my best friends? Well, you’ve underestimated me for the last time!”

It’s a tad overdramatic, Lisa thinks, but if it sells it sells.

“And to think I thought you were more mature than your idiot friend,” sighs Jennie. “You’re right, I have underestimated you. My mistake, I thought you would be too busy daydreaming of romance over your guitar and writing useless songs to accomplish something worthwhile in your life.”

Jennie knows how to find insecurities and drag them out for the world to see, because Chaeyoung’s flinch is visible. She’s aware of it, too, tightening her ponytail as she walks away victoriously.

“That deserved an Oscar,” Lisa says lightly, hoping to cheer Chaeyoung up. She bumps her shoulder, making sure Jennie is out of earshot before adding, “It was nice and all, but why take the fall?”

“Yeah, well,” Chaeyoung lets out a mirthless laugh. “Soccer is Jisoo’s life; I can’t watch her lose it. I couldn’t take that risk. If getting into my first one-on-one confrontation with Jennie is what it takes, I’ll do it. She let me off easy anyway, compared to what happened with you.”

“Wow.” Lisa doesn’t really know what to say to that. “It sounds like you care a lot about Jisoo.”

Chaeyoung’s head snaps up, and she gives Lisa a penetrating stare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Lisa holds up her hands in a placating gesture. “I just meant, you guys seem like really good friends.”

“Oh.” Chaeyoung rubs the back of her neck contritely. “Yeah, we’ve been best friends since age six, but that doesn’t stop her from being a huge fucking idiot. I wish she would just think before she does things.”

Lisa detects more than a hint of resentment in Chaeyoung’s tone, which is why she isn’t surprised to find the red-haired girl tapping her foot outside of the library after school ends. “Jisoo Kim!”

Jisoo faces her with a guilty expression. “Hi, Chaeng…heard you saved my ass from Jennie.”

Lisa and Yoongi move away as Chaeyoung yanks Jisoo aside by her collar, speaking in a hushed but heated voice. “This whole feud thing makes you act so childish and ridiculous. It’s like you’re obsessed with her!” she hisses, waving her hands about in a crazed manner.

“I’m not obsessed with her,” Jisoo argues. “She’s just so—”

“Do you even think about how your actions affect other people?” comes the pointed accusation. “Lisa got dragged into this mess her first week here, and I barely managed to stay on the outskirts until now.”

Upon hearing her name, Lisa shoots Yoongi a deer-in-headlights look. Both of them take a few steps back, not wanting to be too involved, but don’t even attempt to disguise their eavesdropping.“You didn’t have to take the blame for me, okay?” says Jisoo, frustrated. “I would’ve been fine. And Lisa doesn’t think it’s a big deal, right, Lisa?”

She says the last part loudly enough that it’s obviously directed at the girl standing behind them, so Lisa’s attempts at distancing herself have failed. “Um…”

In a futile display of childish pique, Chaeyoung stamps her foot. “It’s not about what Lisa thinks, Jisoo. It’s about you and your completely idiotic fixation on provoking Jennie!”

Jisoo flushes, crossing her arms over her chest, and snaps back, “If you think I’m such an idiot, then don’t hang out with me. Go find Jennie instead, since you apparently like her so much better. Nobody asked you to follow me around everywhere like a fucking dog. It’s pathetic.”

Shocked at herself, Jisoo freezes as Chaeyoung recoils. In that moment, she does look a bit like a dog: eyes wide, mouth half-open but no words forthcoming— a kicked puppy. “Fine,” she says quietly, turning on her heel to leave. “I don’t know what you want to achieve here, but I hope it goes well for you.”

“Chaeng, wait.” Jisoo grasps for Chaeyoung’s backpack but just misses the strap as the other girl walks swiftly away. “Chaeng, I didn’t mean that!”

Lisa and Yoongi stare in suspended silence, helpless spectators to the scene. Jisoo’s just as paralyzed; it’s almost comical, with her arm outstretched and her fist closed around thin air. Within seconds, Chaeyoung has rounded the corner to the parking lot and disappeared from sight.

Jisoo’s arm falls to her side as she speaks, still staring blankly in that direction. “I fucked up, didn’t I.”

“Yes,” says Yoongi, despite the fact that he doesn’t even know Chaeyoung. But, Lisa rationalizes, he doesn’t need to know her, because Jisoo’s words were a fuck-up in every possible way.

“Jisoo,” starts Lisa, but she has no sentence to follow, no comfort in the wake of this devastation. So she lets the name fade into nothing and watches Jisoo bite her bottom lip hard, clenching her fingers around the hem of her shirt. A steady stream of students make their way around the three of them, talking animatedly now that the school day at its end, but Jisoo is caught in traction, a pebble wedged halfway into the riverbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so my beta editor either died or fell off the face of the earth. But I really wanted to post the chapter, even though I kind of hate it haha, so I did anyway. There may or may not be 12385709812 errors.
> 
> Chapter title is from "Stay", thank you for reading!


	7. you can’t go a day without me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie gives a tip and Jisoo uses it to change.

The next two weeks are uncomfortable at best and painful at worst.

The first lunch passes like this: Lisa comes to their usual spot to find Jisoo moodily picking at a weed, lunchbox discarded to the side. Chaeyoung is nowhere in sight. Lisa doesn’t even bother to ask, because it’s pretty obvious what’s going on here. She wonders briefly where Chaeyoung is sitting.

Chaeyoung avoids them then, before school and between periods, but during P.E. class she pretends nothing happened. She chats and jokes with Lisa like always, but the second that Jisoo shows up, Chaeyoung vanishes. Lisa considers advising Chaeyoung to pursue a career as a magician, because she could definitely make it big with this disappearing act.

Jisoo is, expectedly, miserable. Math class is a nightmare: Lisa finds herself stuck with a table partner who can hardly be bothered to lift her head up from the table, much less help with the classwork. Seven lunches pass with her rarely uttering a word to Lisa past hellos and goodbyes. It gets to the point where even the introverted Yoongi, who used to tell Jisoo to shut up every period they spent in the library, expresses concern at her unusual silence.

“Jisoo, stop moping.” Okay, so it’s a questionable form of concern, but Lisa’s impressed that he even bothered to comment on the matter. “Chaeyoung seems to be a reasonable person; she’ll get over it.”

“No, she won’t. I told her she was pathetic, when all she’s done is support me. I’m the pathetic one!” Jisoo buries her face in her arms.

“You kind of are right now,” Yoongi says unhelpfully.

“Have you apologized to her?” Lisa suggests. “I’m sure she’d hear you out.”

“I tried,” moans Jisoo, “but she keeps running away! I can’t even talk to her.”

So the four of them are suffering— well, the three of them, Lisa can’t speak for Chaeyoung, who’s doing just fine based off what she’s seen in P.E.— but there’s one person in this whole situation who seems to be thriving. Jennie’s never been better, now that Jisoo’s too occupied (and too ashamed?) to pull any stunts.

Lisa finds that a happy Jennie is good for them all: she cuts back on the derisive comments, doesn’t bother her and Chaeyoung in P.E., and even cooperates with Lisa in English. It’s not like Lisa _likes_ her, but if she just ignores their personal history and considers her tablemate purely from a business perspective, she has to admit that Jennie turns out to be a decent partner. Much better than Jisoo in math, who was right about at least one thing: the book _Tess_ is rivaling even her in terms of depressing content.

Even with all this progress, it comes as a total surprise when Jennie suddenly says to her one day, when they’re supposed to be doing group work, “Whatever’s going on with Jisoo and Chaeyoung needs to stop.”

How does Jennie know about that, and why does she even care? Lisa has a lot of questions, but the only one that leaves her mouth is: “Um, what?”

Jennie rolls her eyes. “Chaeyoung and Jisoo. They’re arguing, right?”

“Yes?” says Lisa uncertainly. “How did you know?”

“Chaeyoung’s been hanging out with some of the people in my group at lunch,” Jennie explains. “Which obviously means something happened between those two, because they’re usually inseparable.”

“Why do you care?” asks Lisa suspiciously. “I thought you hated them. Us. Whatever.”

“I couldn't care less about Jisoo,” scoffs Jennie. “But I guess Chaeyoung… isn’t bad.”

“Even though she put trash on your locker?” Lisa points out. She notices that Jennie hasn’t addressed her opinion of Lisa but decides to let the matter be. Because she totally doesn’t care what Jennie thinks of her.

Jennie rolls her eyes even harder. “Do you think I’m an idiot? It was obvious that Chaeyoung didn’t put any trash on my locker, because she’s not as rash or as stupid as Jisoo. Seriously, ‘you’ve underestimated me for the last time!’ She’s been watching way too many spy movies.”

To her own horror, Lisa almost laughs before she manages to catch herself. “That still doesn’t explain why you want her to make up with your worst enemy.” It also doesn’t explain why Jennie was so mean to Chaeyoung if she knew she was innocent, but Lisa chalks that up to her sunny personality. She seems to have rather extreme mood swings.

“My worst enemy? How presumptuous.” Jennie rolls her eyes so hard that Lisa’s afraid they’ll fall out. She checks to see that the teacher hasn’t noticed them before lowering her voice. “Anyway, Chaeyoung’s been talking to this one guy in particular, Scott— he’s bad news. I’d take Jisoo over him any day, and that’s saying something.”

Intrigued, Lisa raises her eyebrows. “I thought you said she was hanging out with your friends?”

“Not everyone in the popular group is my friend, stupid,” says Jennie patronizingly. “Scott’s from the football team. I don’t know him well enough to judge his character, but my _actual_ friends suggest steering clear. Chaeyoung seems like she’s really fond of him, and that won’t go over well.”

Lisa nods slowly. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“Has Jisoo apologized?” Naturally, Jennie assumes that Jisoo is in the wrong, and she’s not wrong.

“She’s tried, but she can never find Chaeyoung. It’s like she’s hiding.”

“Well,” says Jennie, “now you know where she is at lunch. She’s on the stage, with the rest of us. Tell Jisoo to talk to her there; it’s not like Chaeyoung could actually outrun her if she wanted to.”

“Time’s up!” yells their teacher. “Every group should turn in their answers.” Fortunately, being partners with Jennie had its benefits at times like these, because they’d already finished their analysis way before. Jennie takes Lisa’s paper as well as her own and gets up to put them in the basket.

“Thanks,” Lisa says quietly, half-hoping Jennie won’t hear. It’s not about the analysis questions.

But Jennie does hear, and the other girl’s back stiffens momentarily before she replies, “No problem.”

\----

“I can’t do it!” Jisoo wails loudly, spinning around and flopping to the ground.

Lisa slaps a palm to her forehead, dragging it down her face wearily. “Jisoo, what’s so hard about this? I thought you wanted to apologize to her.”

She’s spent the entire lunch trying to convince Jisoo to go talk to Chaeyoung, but the other girl has been a lot less willing than Lisa anticipated. They only have seven minutes left of the last lunch before the weekend, so if Jisoo doesn’t hurry up, this dispute is going to last a lot longer than Lisa would like.

“I do,” insists Jisoo, “but on a tip from Jennie? It’s humiliating. Plus, I’d have to go up to where she and all her popular friends sit.”

Lisa sighs heavily for the hundredth time in thirty minutes. She gives her friend a serious look. “Jisoo, don’t you think it’s time to decide between your vendetta against Jennie and your friendship with Chaeyoung? I think you know what’s more important here.”

For a long moment, Jisoo lies there with her hands clasped behind her head, looking up at the sky. Overhead, the leaves rustle lightly with the wind, casting dancing shadows and dappled light over them. A strong breeze bends the branches briefly, allowing the sunlight to shine unfiltered onto Jisoo’s face.

“Okay,” she says finally, pushing herself to her feet and dusting off the grass. “Let’s go.”

The two of them make their way down the stairs and climb onto the stage. Sure enough, Chaeyoung is there, lightly punching a sandy-haired boy on the shoulder as he throws back his head and cackles.

“Chaeyoung,” Jisoo says softly, using her friend’s full name for the first time since Lisa has met them. Out of the corner of her eye, Lisa sees Jennie watching them intently, Jimin taking a bite out of his sandwich at her side.

“Jisoo.” Chaeyoung turns to them with an interesting combination of resignation and surprise. She sees Lisa shuffling her feet in the background and greets her in a considerably warmer tone, “Hey, Lisa.”

Lisa gives her a little wave and then jerks her head in Jisoo’s direction in a motion that hopefully conveys, _I know she’s a jerk but at least hear her out_. Chaeyoung stands, shrugging the boy’s arm off her shoulder (“Give me a minute, Scott”) and stands with a sigh. The three of them hop down from the stage and retreat into the shade of the gym building for some privacy.

For a while, nobody says anything. Lisa clears her throat, hoping to break through the thick silence. “Should I leave? Maybe it’s better if you two talk it out between yourselves.”

“No, stay,” Jisoo says too quickly, giving away her panic. “I’m sorry,” she starts, swallowing as she meets Chaeyoung’s eyes. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean any of it, what I said.”

“I know you didn’t,” Chaeyoung replies, looking away. “But that doesn’t make it hurt any less when you tell me I’m pathetic for being your friend.”

Jisoo flinches at the reminder. “You didn’t deserve that. You’ve always been there for me, even when I screwed up, and I threw it back into your face. I just— Chaeng, I’m sorry.”

“Okay,” says Chaeyoung flatly, “okay.”

Lisa and Jisoo wait for more, but it seems like she’s done talking.

“How mad are you at me?” Jisoo worries her lip between her teeth. “I don’t know what else to say.”

Chaeyoung fiddles with a button on her sleeve. “I’m not _mad_ , Jisoo. I’m just sick of it. Recently everything has been about you and your ‘war’ on Jennie. It’s so exhausting.”

“I’ll stop,” Jisoo promises instantly and with conviction. Her eyes are wide and pleading. “Ask Lisa; I haven’t done anything the past ten days. It was stupid and pointless and not worth our friendship. I see that now. I’ll stop and I’ll leave Jennie alone."

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to come back. I miss you, Chaeng.”

Lisa feels distinctly out of place here: the moment seems oddly intimate, and really, she’s only been friends with them for less than a month. Chaeyoung and Jisoo run a lot deeper than that. Since age six, Chaeyoung had said, right after taking the blame for something she didn’t do, and to what end? To protect Jisoo (from, ironically, the same person who helped bring them together now).

Since age six, through lost lunchboxes and falls on the playground and growth spurts and late-night secrets during sleepless sleepovers. Lisa’s an intruder here, and they all know it.

The hard set of Chaeyoung’s face softens into the gentleness Lisa’s grown accustomed to, and she exhales deliberately. “Okay.”

This “okay” is different from the past few, which were erected like castle walls, cold and made of stone and meant to guard. This one is more forgiving, a drawbridge lowered over the moat, a white flag raised from the highest tower.

“Really?” Jisoo brightens perceptibly. “Are— are we okay?”

“We’re okay,” confirms Chaeyoung. “But you have to keep that promise.”

“Definitely,” Jisoo swears. “I’ll never—”

“And,” Chaeyoung raises a hand to cut her off, “you have to get tutoring for math.”

“Sure,” Jisoo agrees tentatively.

“From Jennie.”

The words fall between them like a guillotine. Jisoo stands with her mouth agape, and Lisa, who can only mirror her, half expects her head to topple from her shoulders in shock.

“From— from Jennie?!”

“Yep,” Chaeyoung says evenly. “To improve your math grade and to hopefully make amends with Jennie. Both of which will help ensure that you’ll stay on the soccer team.”

Jisoo looks like she wants to protest, but doesn’t dare to throw away the forgiveness she just received from Chaeyoung. “Fine, I’ll sign up after school today.”

During English later in the day, Lisa will have to find out Jennie’s feelings about this new development. For now, she’s curious whether or not Chaeyoung knew of the role Jennie played in Jisoo’s apology and if it had any bearing on her unexpected demand.

But before she can ask, Jisoo takes a deep breath next to her, as if steeling her nerves. Lisa thinks she knows what’s coming and again considers leaving her friends to have a one-on-one discussion. “Chaeng, there’s something else I want to tell you. I—”

But before _she_ can finish, a muscular figure pushes its way between them, wrapping an arm around Chaeyoung and pulling her in. “Rosie, babe, is everything all right?”

“Rosie? _Babe_?!” sputter Lisa and Jisoo, one in a significantly louder voice than the other.

Chaeyoung giggles and hugs the boy tightly, the one she’d been talking to before Jisoo and Lisa interrupted. “Guys, this is Scott. My boyfriend.”

“What the fuck,” says Jisoo intelligently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> honestly, Jisoo, I feel you. yeah, the guy is an oc, but only because i didn't want to give any real people his role :(
> 
> Thank you for reading, leave a comment or kudos on your way out! Chapter title is from "Really".


	8. my easy smiles are for myself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jennie is not a big elephant, Yoongi is not on fire, and this summary does not make sense.

“Tutoring Jisoo?” Jennie wrinkles her nose as if recalling the gift her soon-to-be student left on her locker a few weeks ago. “I have to say, I usually don’t waste my time talking to walls.”

This is pretty much the reception Lisa expected, so she does her best not to react. Still, she can’t keep all the bite out of her voice when she retaliates, “What, spend it in front of mirrors instead?”

“What a stereotype,” Jennie isn’t remotely offended. “Yes, I’m a model. Other people might enjoy looking at my face, but that doesn’t mean I do. I didn’t realize that I come off as so vain.”

(Lisa can confirm, having heard from very reliable sources, that other people indeed enjoyed looking at Jennie’s face, but she does her best to push this to the back of her mind).

“You don’t,” says Lisa plainly, “just as a total bi—”

Fortunately, Lisa censors herself before she can finish the last word, though it was pretty obvious that she wasn’t going to say something innocent like “big elephant”. She expects her words to induce a tantrum of epic proportions, but Jennie just blinks back at her and says, “I know.”

Which just, what? Again, extreme mood swings.

“Anyway,” Lisa continues after a pause, “she’s only signing up because Chaeyoung wants her to.”

With that, they’re back on track. “No, really? I thought Jisoo decided of her own free will to ask me of all people for academic help,” Jennie says dryly. “The apology went well, then?”

“Yeah,” Lisa answers. “Though you could’ve told me Chaeyoung was dating Scott.”

“Chaeyoung’s dating Scott?” Jennie quirks an eyebrow. “So we were too late. That’s highly unfortunate.”

It’s reassuring to find that Jennie hadn’t known either. “What’s so bad about him?”

“I couldn’t say,” shrugs the other girl. “He gets along with a lot of people, actually, but I have a friend who almost got into a relationship with him and ended it before it could happen. She wouldn’t tell me much, but apparently there were a lot of red flags that weren’t easily ignored.”

Red flags. Lisa ponders this, but nothing comes to mind; Scott seemed nice enough in the limited interaction they’d had at lunch. “I see.”

“Well, nothing we can do about it now. I didn’t expect them to get together so fast,” says Jennie. “How long was she hanging out with him for, since she ditched you guys?"

\----

“Two weeks!” Jisoo yells, bursting through the doors of the library. Several students look up at the sudden sound. When she reaches their table, she says in a thankfully lower voice, “We don’t see Chaeng for two weeks and now she has a boyfriend.”

Truthfully, Lisa was taken aback by this as well, so she asked Chaeyoung about it during P.E. Apparently, she already knew Scott, who sat next to her history class, and they were somewhat friends.

“He kept flirting with me,” Chaeyoung had smiled at the memory. “I thought it was kind of sad, then, but really it was also endearing. At first I didn’t really want to deal with it, so I just pretended I didn’t notice, but after Jisoo— well, when we weren’t talking, I figured, why not?”

“It still makes no sense,” gripes Jisoo after Lisa explains this to her. “A boyfriend!”

“I don’t know why you’re so shocked,” Yoongi doesn’t even look up from his homework. “Scott’s practically a real-life Adonis, so I can see where Chaeyoung’s coming from. Plus— and I know this is a foreign concept for you, having never been on the receiving end yourself— people are often attracted to kind and intelligent individuals like her.”

“You little—” Jisoo lunges for him but is impeded by Lisa, who hastily shoves her into a chair.

Yoongi yawns exaggeratedly. “Please, someone put a leash on it.”

“Not now, we’re in a library!” Lisa whisper-shrieks, anticipating Jisoo’s next move and forcing the other girl back before she can rise to her feet. “Someone’s extra grouchy today, Yoongi. Tone it down a little.”

“Tone it down a little?” Yoongi throws down his mechanical pencil. “As you have so astutely observed, I am feeling extra grouchy. I’m going to act extra grouchy, and I don’t even care because anyone whose lab partner nearly sets them on fire has earned the right to be extra grouchy!”

“Nearly set you on _what_?” Jisoo finally stops struggling against Lisa’s restraining grip and starts to laugh.

“What happened?” asks Lisa, disregarding her friend’s cackling. “Was this in chemistry or something?”

“Could you shut up?” Yoongi growls at Jisoo, before answering, “Yes. He left the Bunsen burner on, had the brilliant idea of pulling an extension cord for his laptop charger across the walkway between our table and the next, and proceeded to watch me, holding my papers, trip and drop them all onto it. Then he totally panicked instead of helping in any way and ran around screaming while I was trying to keep my hair from catching on fire.”

Jisoo slaps a hand on her knee in mirth. “Oh, my god, what skill! Who is this brilliant man? I need to give him a medal for almost killing you.”

“You already know him. You’re friends with Jimin, right?”

“Jimin?!” Suddenly Jisoo’s expression is alight with knowingness. “You’re _the_ lab partner?”

Yoongi looks a little puzzled by the unprompted emphasis. “Yes, since the start of the year.”

“Interesting,” she says, uncharacteristically nonchalant, then, low enough that only the nearer Lisa can hear, “Guess he really does go for the unpleasant ones.”

Lisa takes the opportunity to join the discussion. “Wait, Jimin as in Jennie’s ex?”

“Alternatively, Jimin as in the captain of the soccer team,” Yoongi says sourly, “but whatever, let’s refer to him by the girl he dated almost a year ago.”

Wow, he really is grouchy today.

Someone clears her throat loudly, drawing their attention. “As much as I hate to interrupt this fascinating conversation,” says the girl Jimin dated almost a year ago, “I need to talk to Jisoo.”

“Hello, Jennie.” Jisoo is obviously forcing herself to wear a pleasant expression.

“Jisoo,” Jennie nods curtly. “I heard you’re signing up for tutoring?”

Jisoo shoots Lisa an accusatory look, and she puts on her most innocent face. “So you already know.”

“When do you want to start? I think as soon as possible is best, considering your current proficiency.”

Lisa can actually see Jisoo mentally remind herself that Chaeyoung asked her to do this, offer Jennie a tight-lipped smile, and respond calmly, “How about sometime next week?”

“During lunch?”

“I’m not going to give up my lunch to study math with you.”

“Then my house after school? I don’t think I want to go to yours; I’d probably catch some disease.”

“Okay, that’s it.” Jisoo drops the facade and scowls deeply at Jennie. “I am not going to your house, you condescending bitch. And I wouldn’t want you in mine, either.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Lisa interjects. “You guys, you’ve been talking for less than a minute and it’s already escalated to this. How exactly do you plan to get through an hour of private tutoring?”

“She provoked me,” Jisoo sulks childishly.

“She did,” concedes Lisa, not sure at what point she became a moderator. “Jennie, can you at least try and pretend you don’t hate her? I doubt you treat the other kids you tutor like this.”

Jennie looks appropriately chastised. “Fine. So if not either of our houses, or during lunch, then when?”

“Why don’t you guys just do it during this period?” The idea comes from an unlikely source. Yoongi has picked his mechanical pencil back up and is now tapping it impatiently against the table. “You both have a free sixth, and we’re in the library anyway. Might as well.”

Jennie gives him a dirty look, no doubt recalling the Pachinko fiasco. Still, she considers it and eventually admits, “Hmm… that would work for me.”

“Same here,” says Jisoo, “so Lisa can be a witness if you decide to murder me.”

Lisa sighs, but nods anyway because Jisoo kind of has a point. Who knows what Jennie and Jisoo would do to each other if they were alone for an extended period of time? One thing's for sure: a lot of drama would go down, and not the type that Lisa likes to binge watch.

\----

But before they even get to sixth period the following Monday, there is drama. “What have you done to your hair?” Jisoo gapes at Chaeyoung.

“I dyed it,” she says, twirling a lock around her finger and looking insecure. “Don’t you like it?”

Chaeyoung’s hair is now a light pink, close to salmon. It’s a lot different than the darker, bolder shade she sported when Lisa first met her: more feminine, maybe, a bit softer. Lisa likes how it looks, but she, somewhat stupidly, feels like this dye job signals a bigger shift somewhere.

“Of course I do,” Jisoo replies quickly. “I was just surprised.”

“You didn’t like the cherry color anymore?” Lisa ventures cautiously.

“No, no, it was fine,” Chaeyoung answers, her cheeks suddenly matching her hair in color. “Actually, it was Scott’s idea. He said I’d look good in pink.”

“You’d look good in any color,” says Jisoo, almost inaudibly, “you didn’t have to change it.”

“What?” Chaeyoung clearly didn’t hear. “Anyway, speaking of Scott, you’ll meet him today— at least, for longer than the two minutes from last week. He’s sitting here for lunch.”

“Here?” Jisoo repeats. “But what about the stage? He’s a popular kid; he should sit over there!”

Chaeyoung frowns in disapproval. “Jisoo, we shouldn’t conform so much to the expectations of social cliques. Scott said he’d rather hang out with me, seeing as how he’s my boyfriend—”

Jisoo cringes at the reminder.

“— and besides, he wants to meet you guys.”

As if on cue, the said boyfriend slips into the unoccupied space on Chaeyoung’s right side. “Hey, Rosie. Wanna introduce me to your friends?”

“I’m Lisa,” says Lisa, before Chaeyoung can do so. Jisoo looks like she’s choking on a very large, very unwelcome football, so Lisa takes pity on her and adds, “This is Jisoo.”

Jisoo recovers in record time to point at Chaeyoung and say, “And this is Chaeyoung, as you should know, since you’re dating her.”

Chaeyoung shoots daggers at her. “Jisoo—”

Scott just laughs it off. “Yeah, I know. I just thought Rosie was cute, because her English name’s like, Roseanne and all. As you should know, since you’re her best friend.”

He’s obviously joking, but Lisa still has to elbow a fuming Jisoo before blurting out loudly, “It’s nice to meet you, Scott! I heard you’re on the football team, what position do you play?”

“I’m a linebacker.”

“Fascinating,” says Jisoo. “I always thought quarterbacks were cooler.”

Scott looks distinctly uncomfortable when confronted by Jisoo’s blatant hostility. “I guess they’re pretty cool. Quarterbacks get all the limelight, man, ‘cause they’re offensive, you know.”

“You’re offensive. You offend me,” Jisoo mutters just as Lisa conveniently bursts into a fit of coughing to cover up, having predicted something similar.

Chaeyoung glares suspiciously, while Scott just looks confused. “By the way, love the hair,” he says, nudging her. “It suits you, babe.”

Jisoo gags on her pizza.

\----

So.

Scott ends up joining the three of them nearly every day for lunch. He becomes something of a staple in their school days, in the sense that he’s always around and, for Jisoo, is pokey and annoying and nearly impossible to remove.

Personally, Lisa finds him generally likeable. She’s not sure what “red flags” Jennie could have been referring to, though Scott does tend to use “babe” in every other sentence, which is a little much for her liking. He has an easy smile and holds open all the doors for Chaeyoung. He’s a simple guy, the type who’d resort to stuffed animals, chocolates, or flowers every anniversary. They seem happy together, judging from the public displays of affection she and Jisoo are often spectators to, but he’s just not what Lisa expected Chaeyoung’s type to be.

Lisa thought Chaeyoung would go for someone more complicated, someone who maybe couldn’t always get their feelings across as straightforwardly as Scott but came through when it mattered, someone with a slightly eccentric sense of humor that could make Chaeyoung laugh when she was down.

Someone like Jisoo.

It’s agonizingly apparent that Jisoo has a massive crush on her best friend. If that emotional apology hadn’t been enough for Lisa to realize this, Jisoo’s intense jealousy whenever Scott is around gives it away for sure. She’s always grumbling things like, “Nobody calls her by her English name, you dumb—” and, “Please stop kissing, my eyes hurt.”

Chaeyoung is blissfully oblivious to it all, and Lisa’s heart pangs with sympathy for Jisoo whenever she leans a head on Scott’s shoulder or exchanges a kiss with him. Pining for an unrequited love is bad, but when that person is, however unintentionally, constantly flaunting their own successful romance in front of you? It’s worse.

But then Lisa remembers the defensive look in Chaeyoung’s eyes at her offhanded, “You really care about her,” and she thinks that love might not be so unrequited after all. It’s just— there was a slim window in time for Jisoo to make her move, and she mistimed the jump by millimeters and hit the wall instead.

That doesn’t stop her from trying again. One of the rare days Scott has gone to sit on the stage instead, Jisoo shows up to lunch with an question on her lips and hope in her heart.

“Chaeng, you seen the new Ant-Man movie?”

“No, not yet.”

“Want to watch it with me Friday night? I bought tickets.”

Chaeyoung smiles widely. “I’d love to! But what about…” She glances covertly at Lisa, not wanting her to be left out. But Lisa wouldn’t really mind; she isn’t exactly jumping at the prospect of third-wheeling for a couple that isn’t really a couple, even if they’re her best friends.

Jisoo seems to remember her other friend and unenthusiastically extends the invitation to her as well, “Yeah, I guess you can come too,” then, out of the corner of her mouth, “but you’re buying your own ticket.”

“I can’t wait!!” says Chaeyoung. “Though I do hope it doesn’t make me as depressed as Infinity War did.”

The good news tides Jisoo over all the way until her lesson with Jennie that afternoon. Miraculously, these tutoring sessions haven’t been as disastrous as Lisa initially expected. This is partially due to a combination of Yoongi and Lisa’s presence, Jisoo holding her tongue for Chaeyoung’s sake, and the looming threat of an angry librarian if any arguments get too loud. As a result, Jisoo’s grade is slowly but steadily climbing up from that D-.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Jennie checks off another one of the homework questions with her pen. “You seem happy; you haven’t gotten a single one wrong yet.”

Jisoo laughs giddily. “I am happy. I’m _so_ happy!” She does a strange little dance in her seat. “Not even this stupid subject is going to mess that up.”

“Okay…” Jennie inches her chair backwards surreptitiously. She looks up at the ceiling, then down at the ground, then says with an air of great reluctance, “Keep up the good work.”

Jisoo beams.

\----

The good work dies a gruesome death no more than two days later.

“No, no, no!” Jennie snaps, before taking a deep breath and speaking slowly. “Jisoo, you did the exact same thing as the first three times you got it wrong. Try a different approach, or check your work.”

“You know what, fuck off!” Jisoo flicks her pencil hard; it clatters to the floor and bounces halfway across the room before coming to a rest.

Jennie gives Lisa a pleading look for help, but she’s just as baffled. “Jisoo, is everything okay? Why are you so mad?”

“Well,” says Jennie, picking up her belongings and edging away. “I don’t think we’re going to get any work done today, so I’ll leave you two to discuss.” Yoongi follows her lead, hurriedly excusing himself and moving to a different table.

This leaves Lisa with a brooding Jisoo. “Are you okay?” she tries again.

“I’m perfectly fine,” Jisoo replies. “Do you know who isn’t? Chaeng. She’s out of her goddamn mind. I can’t believe her at all.”

“Uh,” says Lisa eloquently.

“She blew me off!” Jisoo bursts out. “Us! Whatever! She blew us off for her idiot boyfriend. Look what she texted me in fifth.” She thrusts her phone into Lisa’s face.

Lisa reads it obligingly. _in history w/ bae, he just told me he planned a date night for 2nite. reservations and stuff. so srry i can’t make it 2 movie, hope you and L have fun!_

“We could just reschedule,” Lisa pacifies.

“I already bought the tickets.”

Oh, yeah. “Never mind, so did I.”

“You know what, screw you, Chaeng. Screw you and your stupid ‘bae’. Who even says ‘bae’ anymore?” Jisoo’s stuffing her things into her bag and mostly talking to herself, so Lisa just stands back and watches. That is, until she turns to Lisa with a furiously determined stare. “Fine, Lisa, I guess it’s just you and me. Let’s rock this date.”

Lisa knows better than to argue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well. to the request for longer chapter, i tried but died. to be honest, this chapter was soooooo hard to write, i don't even know why haha. it'd be great if i had some kudos or a comment to fix my brain!! ;) ;) ;) Also, I actually rewrote half of it just to put in Rosé's hair.
> 
> chapter title is from "Ddu Du Ddu Du," o_O see if you notice anything about it.


	9. under the red sunset, you are by my side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa and Jisoo’s “date” is crashed by a surprise guest.

“And you’ll be okay here by yourself?” Lisa’s mom says for the third time as she pulls over to the curb in front of the theater.

“Yeah.” Lisa unbuckles her seatbelt and grabs her purse. “Jisoo should be here in half an hour. I’ll just look around until then. And she can drop me off back home.”

“If you’re sure, sweetie.” Her mom leans over and pecks her on the cheek. “Have fun!”

“Have fun at your company thing with Dad,” Lisa replies.

She watches the car zoom away before taking a moment surveying her surroundings. Lisa’s never been to this shopping center before; it’s a little far for actually coming here to buy things, and she hasn’t had any interest in watching movies until now.

Next to the movie theater, there’s a supermarket, around which various restaurants are scattered: Islands, Pat and Oscars, In-N-Out. Lisa could go buy some food, but she just had an early dinner. Plus, she needs to save some room for popcorn. There’s also a nail salon, but Lisa, ever the procrastinator, hasn’t gotten her credit card set up after their move overseas, and the few bills stuffed into her wallet won’t be enough for any sort of manicure. So she pulls out her phone and texts Jisoo.

  
**Lisa [18:43]**  
r u here yet

  
The reply comes within seconds.

  
**Jisoo [18:43]**  
wtf I haven’t even left

 **Jisoo [18:43]**  
y r u already there

 **Jisoo [18:44]**  
shit did i get the time wrong again

  
**Lisa [18:44]**  
lol no, my parents dropped me off early on their way to a party

  
**Jisoo [18:44]**  
wowwww living the life

  
**Lisa [18:44]**  
company party u idiot.

  
**Jisoo [18:45]**  
disappointing

 **Jisoo [18:45]**  
u haven’t got a car?

  
**Lisa [18:45]  
** mhm

 **Lisa [18:46]  
** no american license either

  
**Jisoo [18:46]  
** o yea 

 **Jisoo [18:47]  
** ok well i’m leaving in like 5 min 

 **Jisoo [18:48]  
** btw can we meet at the sushi place instead 

 **Jisoo [18:48]  
** hard to find parking in front of cinema

  
**Lisa [18:48]  
** fine but where is that

  
**Jisoo [18:49]**  
down the hill

  
**Lisa [18:49]  
** k c u

 **Lisa [18:51]**  
hurry up i’m bored

  
**Jisoo [18:51]**  
jisoos christ chill out i’m getting in the car

  
**Lisa [18:52]**  
did you srsly just use ur own name to censor

  
**Jisoo [18:52]**  
one must never speak the lord’s name in vain! ttyl

  
Lisa laughs at her phone screen before shutting it off and tucking it into her purse. She looks around for a road leading “down the hill,” as Jisoo had said, and quickly realizes that the theater is in fact at the top of a hill.

Which means that all directions lead down.

  
**Lisa [18:54]**  
jisoo wtf everywhere is down what do i do  
_  
_

But there’s no reply, presumably because Jisoo is already on her way. Well, kudos to her for safe driving, but no kudos for her complete failure to give Lisa helpful directions. So she just picks a random way and wanders aimlessly down that road. She’s pretty sure it isn’t the right one; in fact, she seems to be getting farther away from the shopping center. Whatever, she’s got thirty minutes to kill before Jisoo gets here.

As predicted, the path does not lead her to a sushi restaurant. After a short time of walking, the destination she finally reaches is a nondescript building by the side of the road. The letters across the side read: “Blink Inc,” and a smaller sign explains, “Blink Inc is the revolution in studio photography.”

Photography! Another hobby of Lisa’s, though she hasn’t really advanced beyond scenery and the occasional phone pic of a friend. She figures she’ll check the place out while waiting, maybe see the photographer in action if she can get that close.

The automatic doors slide open as Lisa nears, hitting her with a blast of refreshing cool air. The walls of the room are a sterile white, as are the teeth of the lady sitting behind a desk as she flashes Lisa a wide smile.

“Hello! Are you the next client? Your session should start in a few minutes; the last girl is almost done,” she chatters excitedly. “We really are lucky today, another gorgeous young lady.”

Lisa opens her mouth to correct the receptionist, but can’t get in a word edgewise as the woman rambles on. “Oh, but you’re much taller, with such long legs! And that face, a touch more makeup and you’d be straight off a magazine cover. Where’s your team, dear? Or are you on your own? Not to worry, even an amateur model is much more exciting for us to work with than the families that come in here all day long.”

Lisa tries again. “No, I’m not—”

“Please, do take a seat. Mr. Hudson will be ready for you in just a moment.” She indicates one of the colorful couches lining the room. “Oh my, oh my, two models in a row, lucky lucky us.”

Lisa sits helplessly, both flattered and flustered by her enthusiasm. “I’m really not—”

“Why, hello!” Yet again, she is cut off by the receptionist, but this time the woman is addressing someone else. The other girl has just exited the studio, followed by a cloud of stylists that hover around her like flies, packing away makeup kits and one wheeling out a rack of expensive-looking outfits. She looks a little familiar, but Lisa can’t identify her from this angle and distance. “Done? You looked beautiful in there, yes, very beautiful.”

“Thank you,” comes the slightly exhausted but sincere response. And now Lisa can identify her, because she definitely recognizes that voice. She hears it every day in school, including only hours ago when it asked to borrow her eraser in English and later on was barely restrained from barking an insult at Jisoo.

Jennie hasn’t noticed her yet, facing the other direction, and Lisa debates fleeing the building at top speed or pressing herself into the alabaster walls in the hope that her pale skin will camouflage her. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the chance to act on either option before the receptionist calls to her with impeccable timing.

“Honey, you can go in now if you’re all ready for your shoot.”

The sentence is enough to make Jennie glance casually over her shoulder, then go back to talking to one of her stylists before suddenly whipping her head back to stare at Lisa again, jaw dropped. In turn, this is enough to make Lisa flush an unattractive red, heat prickling in her cheeks.

“Lisa?”

It’s like they’re elsewhere. Jennie’s entourage leaves the studio in a flurry of movement between them like a passing train; they’re standing on opposite sides of the tracks, staring at each other and only catching brief glimpses between the jostling shoulders. Then all the people are out the door in a flash, and Lisa’s back to reality, sitting on this neon couch in a waiting room for an appointment she never booked.

Jennie’s still dolled up from her shoot— her hair is wavy and slightly tousled, eyes smoky in shades of navy blue and grey, lips pale pink and parted in confusion. The makeup is a striking contrast to the rest of her ensemble; for the first time, Jennie isn’t wearing any (easily observed) designer brands. She’s just in an oversized sweater that almost falls past the bottom edge of her jean shorts, and Lisa has to drop her gaze because frankly, she’s really, really pretty.

The receptionist looks between them. Jennie’s the first to break the silence with a question like a sledgehammer, “You model?”

“No!” Lisa exclaims, relieved at finally having the opportunity to explain her presence uninterrupted. “I just came in to—”

“Are you _stalking_ me?” Jennie says accusingly. So much for uninterrupted.

“No!” Lisa repeats in an even louder voice. “I didn’t even know you were here. I came to watch a movie up the hill, but I saw this place and decided to come in. Seriously. I just wanted to look around the studio, but then this lady thought I was a model!”

The harsh furrow in Jennie’s brow smoothes out. “Oh. What a coincidence.”

“Yeah.” It’s one hell of a coincidence, Lisa picking this random direction to walk in and it leading to a photography studio where Jennie just happened to be having a shoot.

There’s a pause in which both of them are clearly fishing for things to say, and they’re saved by the ever-talkative receptionist. “I just checked our schedules, and it looks like you aren’t here for photos after all.” (Wow, Lisa totally hadn’t been trying to tell her that for the past ten minutes!) “So are you here to pick up Miss Kim?”

Lisa wonders if she’s supposed to know who this Miss Kim is, before realizing who’s standing in front of her and feeling rather foolish. “No, I’m just—”

“A friend from school,” Jennie finishes, and Lisa’s not quite sure when they got to that status, but sure.

“Is your mom coming back, then?”

“…Yes,” Jennie says haltingly, then in a more assured tone, “yes, she’ll arrive soon.”

The woman shuffles through a few papers. “It looks like she’s already signed the consent forms for your shoot, so you don’t need to worry about that.” She goes back to typing away on her computer, though Lisa has to wonder what she could be doing on there, since any hard-working secretary should have known she wasn’t the next client. “Do sit, dearie! You two can chat all you’d like until she gets here.”

Well, now Lisa feels obligated to stay and talk to Jennie, even though it’s evident neither of them have any idea what to say. She settles for stilted small talk as the other girl hesitantly lowers herself into a nearby sofa, “How was your, um, photoshoot?”

“Good, I suppose.” Jennie drums her fingers against the arm of her chair distractedly. “Not too stressful, as they go, because it was just for some online advertisements.”

“Oh.”

“What about you? What movie are you watching?”

“Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

“The new Marvel movie!” Jennie’s face lights up briefly. “I assume Jisoo and Chaeyoung are here too?”

“Jisoo, yes. We invited Chaeyoung, even bought her a ticket and everything, but she’s out. On a date.”

“Oh.” Jennie curls her lip, before her eyes widen suddenly. “ _Oh_. Is that why Jisoo was so angry today?”

Lisa nods, and the conversation peters out into silence.

Suddenly, Jennie’s phone vibrates from where she set it on a nearby table, making both of them jump. She stands up after reading the notification, frowning disappointedly at what she sees. “Well, I’ll see you at school on Monday.” Lisa gives her a few seconds head start out the door before following, disliking the idea of spending any more time with the talkative receptionist.

Outside, the sky lingers in that equilibrium between afternoon and dusk, teetering on the edge of sunset. The clouds are spun sugar— soft and pink against the rigid backdrop of the sky, glazed on the edges by the sun’s tangerine brilliance. Even the parking lot becomes beautiful in the warm glow, grid lines gleaming a dazzling white and, to Lisa’s surprise, bereft of any vehicles.

No car has pulled up in front of the studio. She scans the vicinity for Jennie and spots her walking steadily up the same hill that Lisa just descended.

“Hey!” Lisa sprints to reach Jennie and grabs her shoulder. “Is your mom picking you up at the shopping center? But Jisoo said it’s hard to find parking there.”

“It is.” Jennie shakes off Lisa’s grip and continues onward.

“Then… where are you going?”

“Away,” she says in a clipped tone, quickening her pace.

Lisa hurries to catch up. “Where’s your mom?”

“Busy.” A concerning reply, but not one she dared to probe deeper into currently.

“Are you _walking_ home?”

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like you’re walking,” she concedes, “but that’s insane! You live way too far.”

Jennie stops in the middle of the sidewalk, and Lisa almost crashes into her. “Are you sure you aren’t stalking me? You seem to know a lot about where my house is.”

“I’m not!” Lisa protests her innocence with vehemence, but then she sees the glint in Jennie’s eye and realizes that she is, extraordinarily, joking. Still, Lisa feels she has to clear her name. “I mean, it has to be pretty close to the school, which is like, ten miles from here.”

Jennie resumes her trek. “I’ll be fine. First of all, I don’t live that close to school, so it’s only eight. I can run maybe half of it; it’s not as if I haven’t jogged four miles before. For that matter, it’s good exercise.”

“Even if you sprint the whole time, that’s still at least an hour,” Lisa points out. “It’ll get dark.”

“I’ll be fine,” the other girl repeats stubbornly.

“Don’t you have any other way to get home?” questions Lisa, undeterred. They’re back at the theater, but Jennie’s just continuing on as if she hadn’t heard, so now they’re walking down the other side of the hill. “Maybe you should call a friend or something.”

“Jimin’s out of town,” Jennie says shortly. “Nayeon’s at some cheer team bonding dinner, Taehyung’s on a date, and Chahee’s probably asleep, to be honest. The rest of my friends, well, I’d prefer not to.”

Lisa has no idea who most of those people are. “I still don’t think it’s a good idea for you to walk home by yourself. It’s not safe to go on the highway at night, Jennie.” She’s ignored. “Jennie!”

“What does it matter?” Jennie laughs, throwing her arms out to the side and spinning to face her. “What’s it to you?”

It’s a surreal moment.

The sun dangles low above the horizon by now, just peeking over the crown of the hill, the theater merely a silhouette against its light. Jennie, already shorter than Lisa, is a few feet farther down the slope, face half-hidden in Lisa’s shadow and her own stretching behind her like Picasso’s sketch of Don Quixote, in its inky blackness and every other aspect: a thin, elongated, knight in the night; an unrealistic model of the human body’s beauty.

And maybe it has something to do with how the lingering light bathes the right side of Jennie’s face in hues like candle flame, washing out the makeup in its dimness and leaving behind the permanent pieces. Or maybe it’s because the smile sprawling into her cheeks is clearly a little too carefree, in the way that only someone slightly drunk on her own isolation against the vastness of the world could muster. Or maybe it’s simply because under all that brazenness, Lisa can tell that Jennie doesn’t want to run home tonight, alone on the side of the freeway as headlights hurtle past and engines roar their dominance.

Or maybe it’s because Jennie isn’t the only one who doesn’t want that.

Whatever the reason may be, a ridiculous idea occurs to Lisa and just won’t leave. So she goes ahead and says it straight, stepping downwards towards Jennie. “You don’t have to walk home. Come with us.”

“What?” Jennie stares at her, and Lisa thought she looked shocked earlier upon finding Lisa in the waiting room of the studio, but that’s no competition for her expression now. “Come… with you?”

Lisa kind of has no idea what she’s doing, and it’s too late to stop it now. “Yes. Watch the movie with us. It’s two hours long, Jisoo will drop you off at home after, and it’ll take the same amount of time as if you walked home.”

“I don’t have a ticket. Or money.”

“We have three. Bought an extra one for Chaeyoung, remember?”

Jennie’s expression is unreadable. “Why? I know what I said to that lady, but we aren’t friends.”

Why _is_ Lisa doing this? Jennie’s right. They’re not friends. They’re not anything remotely close to friends. They barely know each other at all, really.

But it also doesn’t have to mean anything, because Lisa’s a decent person, and she tells Jennie this, “Who cares? I wouldn’t let anyone go home by themselves this late.” She strides forward, brushing past Jennie. “Let's go.”

Jennie follows her cautiously, obediently, but Lisa doesn’t look back and doesn’t see. They arrive at the sushi place— so it was the right way, thank Jisoos— in time for Lisa’s phone to ring loudly.

“Hey, Lisa. I’m outside the restaurant. Where are you?”

“On my way. I see you, hold on.” Jisoo’s familiar blue Honda is parked nearby; Lisa approaches with Jennie in tow. “Uh, by the way, we have a surprise guest. Promise me you won’t freak out.”

“What? Who?” Jisoo demands, but Lisa’s close enough to her car that she hangs up, tapping on the window to get her friend’s attention. Jisoo rolls it down a crack and says, “What guest? Did Chaeng decide to show up?”

Then she sees who’s standing behind Lisa and rolls her window up again, “Oh hell no. That is not Chaeng.”

“Jisoo!” Lisa yanks on the handle and the unlocked driver’s door gives way. “I told you not to freak out.”

“How am I supposed to not freak out?! Take a good look at who you brought. Are you insane?”

Lisa leans forward and whispers in order to spare Jennie some dignity, “You know what’s actually insane? She was going to walk home. At this time. By herself.”

“Not our problem,” Jisoo hisses back.

“It will be if she gets kidnapped!”

Jisoo rubs her temple with one hand and relents, exhaling loudly. “Fine, she can stay.” She points a threatening finger at Jennie. “This doesn’t change anything!”

“Of course not,” Jennie says with a smirk. “I wouldn’t want it to.”

Lisa ushers both of them back up the hill before anything else can happen.

* * *

 Still, it seems like things do change, if only marginally.

“Well, that was a pretty good movie,” Jisoo remarks on the drive back.

“Yeah,” agrees Jennie from the backseat.

Jisoo snorts. “Not too plebeian for your highness?”

“I’ll have you know,” Jennie says aridly, “that I actually follow the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so no, not too plebeian for me.”

“What, you? What’s your favorite movie, then?”

“Winter Soldier,” Jennie doesn’t miss a beat, “or Ragnarok.”

Jisoo doesn’t look convinced. “Who knew, you actually have taste. Guardians or Avengers?”

“Avengers. Sorry, but come on, Peter Quill, you didn’t have to do that.”

“Team Cap or Iron Man?”

“Neither. I mean, I see where both sides were coming from, but Civil War just shouldn’t have happened.”

“Thor or Loki?”

“Loki, but Thor’s better now that he has less hair.”

“Wow.” Jisoo is grudgingly impressed. “I can’t believe it. Jennie fucking Kim is an MCU fan.”

“Language!” Lisa, a bystander unfamiliar with the topic being discussed, slaps Jisoo’s arm lightly.

“And for gosh sake, watch your language!” chorus Jennie and Jisoo, sharing a grin in the rearview mirror.

Which is unnerving for Lisa, to say the least. “Are you two alright?”

“Perfectly fine,” says Jennie. “Turn right.”

Jisoo complies. “And Lisa, don’t hit the driver. You wouldn’t want me to crash, would you?”

“You big baby.”

“Just drop me off here,” Jennie requests suddenly, and Jisoo pulls over.

Lisa looks around. It’s dark, but one fact is hard to miss: “Um, this is a street corner; there’s no house.”

“I know.” Lisa can’t see well without any light, but she imagines that Jennie is rolling her eyes again. “I just don’t think I want to feed your stalkerish tendencies with any more information about my home.”

And, God help her, Lisa is actually laughing at the quip, a little bit high on sugar from too much candy and a little bit tired because it’s late and the day has been taxing in an enjoyable way. “You’ll be alright from here?” she checks as Jennie slides out of the car.

“Yeah, it’s just a block.” Jennie hesitates before shutting the door. “Thank you.”

As Jennie’s figure shrinks into the distance, Lisa replies to a closed door, “No problem.”

“You know,” Jisoo looks over at Lisa as they speed down an empty road, “it actually wasn’t a problem. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but hanging out with Jennie was pretty fun.”

“Yeah,” Lisa says, feet propped up on the dash, toes touching the moon, “yeah, it was.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um...yeah. i hope you enjoyed actual jenlisa interaction! thank you for reading, as always, a comment/kudos is welcome :)
> 
> picasso's sketch of don quixote: https://www.pablopicasso.org/don-quixote.jsp. chap title from "Forever Young".


	10. closer and closer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jisoo’s not failing math, but as for other activities…

Jennie’s scrolling listlessly through her phone when Jisoo and Lisa sit down next to her.

“Mr. Shane just put in the math test scores,” she informs them without looking up from it.

“Wait, seriously?” Jisoo fumbles to pull her own out of her bag.

“Check for yourself; he graded quick this time.”

Jisoo rattles off a string of curses as her fingerprint fails to unlock the phone multiple times, until Lisa can no longer resist the urge to intervene, plucking it from her hand. She slides across the lock screen and types in the four numbers she knows to be Jisoo’s birthday and password. Immediately after it opens, Jisoo snatches it back, furiously swiping to the app their school district uses for grades.

Lisa does the same, noting with satisfaction that the inputted test score, whatever it might be, hasn’t caused her overall grade in the class to drop. She clicks into the details, and a 92% flashes at her.

Not bad. Not amazing either, since Lisa’d already learned this entire unit before she moved.

“How’d you do?” Jennie asks, finally setting her phone aside.

“Okay,” says Lisa fairly. She doesn’t bother to ask Jennie back, knowing that she probably got everything right, and with the extra credit, possibly over 100%. “What about you, Jisoo?”

The other girl doesn’t answer at first, staring down at her phone with horror.

“Jisoo?” Lisa prods carefully.

“Holy shit!” Jisoo screams, making Jennie steal a wary look at the librarian. It’s only then that Lisa realizes the expression on her face isn’t one of horror, but rather complete shock. “I got a B!”

“What?” They lean in to peer at the screen, where 80% is written under the unit test.

“Jisoo, that’s amazing,” Lisa says, laughing when Jisoo throws her phone into the air in excitement and barely catches it before it crashes down onto the table.

“Well, eighty is actually a B minu—” Jennie begins snarkily, but then shakes her head. “Sorry. Looks like your studying has paid off.”

Jisoo smirks at her, “Wow, didn’t you say you’d enjoy watching me fail this class?” She’s paraphrasing Jennie’s words from the _Pachinko_ disaster. “Guess who’s not failing? Me!”

Jennie raises an eyebrow. “You’re already out of the D range?”

“Yep, unit tests are worth twice as much _and_ I’ve been doing better in homework. So I have a C- now.”

“Well,” says Jennie, “looks like I’ll have to take that back. Congratulations.”

Jisoo positively glows with pride.

“By the way, you’re very welcome for my free tutoring services, which I’m sure had no effect on your recent improvement,” Jennie drawls with a smug smile.

“Seriously?” Lisa groans. Leave it to Jennie to avoid accepting defeat gracefully.

“Whatever.” A scowl makes its way onto Jisoo’s face, but is soon wiped away by a impish grin. “Hey, you know, you still have another statement to take back.”

“And what might that be?”

“Hmm,” says Jisoo, tapping her chin in mock-thoughtfulness. “How about when you said my soccer abilities are ‘mediocre’? I’m more offended by that, to be honest. Have you ever seen our team play?”

Jennie shakes her head.

“So you just insulted me without even knowing if I was good?!”

“Maybe?” Seeing Lisa and Jisoo’s faces, she hastens to defend herself. “I was just mad. It’s your fault for pulling all that crap with the book, remember?”

“No, I don’t remember the book at all,” Lisa deadpans. “I almost forgot about that time you vandalized my locker with trash, despite getting the copy you wanted. It was such a forgettable experience!”

“Oh, yes,” Jisoo joins in. “It almost slipped my mind, how I needed about a ton of bleach and three hours of scrubbing to get rid of the thoughtful message you left on my jersey.”

Jennie has the decency to look embarrassed, but she doesn’t say anything in response.

“As I was saying,” resumes Jisoo, “I am not a ‘mediocre’ soccer player. Excuse me for bragging, but I’m the opposite of mediocre. And guess what, this is your perfect opportunity to correct that! We have a home game after school today.”

“You want me to go to your soccer game?” Jennie tilts her head to one side, having recovered from her earlier chagrin. “Why should I?”

“I just explained!”

“So I can see how great of a player you are?” Jennie says, disgruntled. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“I’ll go,” interrupts Lisa, who’s been mentally reviewing her schedule for the day— not much homework, no dance practice until later in the evening. “By the way, where’s Yoongi? Didn’t he say he likes to watch the school soccer games or something?”

Jisoo has a knowing look on her face again, reminding Lisa of one she’d sported during a conversation with Yoongi a while back. “If you ask me, he’s gone to watch the boys’ team. They’re at the other school, because this time the girls have home court.”

“Oh, wait, that reminds me. I have gone to a game before,” Jennie amends. “One of Jimin’s last year.”

Involuntarily reminded of the relationship, Jisoo pretends to gag. “But that’s not one of mine, is it?”

When Jennie opens her mouth to refuse again, Lisa adds, “Plus, you kind of owe it to us to go.”

In less subtle words: _We saved you from potentially getting kidnapped the other day, so the least you could do is come to the soccer game_.

Jennie’s expression twists into a reluctant frown, and she sighs in surrender. “Fine, but after this, we’re even. No more soccer games or stupid favors.”

“Fine by me,” Jisoo says. “Besides, I only need one game to prove you wrong.”

\----

“Yes! Jisoo!” Lisa shouts, jumping up from the bleachers and pumping a fist in the air. “Woohoo!”

Jennie slinks down farther in her seat, pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her face. “I have no idea who this person next to me is, please excuse her, I think she’s unwell.”

Lisa pays her— and the dozen other students staring at them— no mind. “Jisoo Kim! Go Jisoo!”

Look, Lisa is far from an expert on soccer, but even she can tell Jisoo hadn’t been lying; she really is the opposite of mediocre. They’re barely twenty minutes into the game, and her friend just received (is that the word?) a long pass from her teammate, dodged two defenders, and scored a goal. So people can stare all they want, because she’s going to be cheering very loudly for the next hour.

Jisoo jogs back to her side of the field, where various teammates slap her on the back, and flashes a smile and a thumbs-up to where Jennie and Lisa are sitting in the first row of the stands, right by the field. Lisa waves back, continuing to scream her name emphatically. In her excitement, she even grabs Jennie by the shoulders and shakes her vigorously back and forth, making her flinch in surprise.

Lisa almost feels bad for the other team— from what she’s seen, they’re not particularly good, and in addition to that they’ve got almost a hundred people cheering against them. More students are arriving to the game now, having made their way over to the field after the last class finished. The stands are filling up quickly.

“Lovely,” remarks Jennie when this is pointed this out to her. “I’m so glad half of the school has come to see me, Jennie Kim, their class president, associating with a lunatic.”

“Oh, come on,” Lisa says, “since you’re class president, show some school spirit! Didn’t you say one of your friends is a cheerleader? Yelling loudly is basically their job.”

“Wow. I’m offended for Nayeon. At least the cheer team yells with coordination and some semblance of grace. This, this horrendous display—” Jennie flaps her hands at Lisa, who has finally stopped her celebratory movements, “— lacks both of those elements.”

Lisa sits back down with a huff, just in time for a shadow to fall over the both of them, blocking out the harsh glare of the sun. Towering above them is a familiar couple.

“Hi, Lisa!” Chaeyoung says, smile becoming uncertain when her gaze lands on the other spectator. “And, um, hello to you too, Jennie.”

“Hello,” Jennie coughs, inching away.

“Chaeyoung!” Lisa scoots closer to Jennie and pats the spot next to her. “You and Scott can sit by us.”

They do so, but not before the football player says in an offhand manner, “Wasn’t expecting to see you here, Jennie.”

“Well, I am.” Jennie sounds conspicuously dismissive, keeping her eyes on the game.

Chaeyoung frowns.

“I’ve never seen Jisoo play before,” Lisa says loudly, hoping to diffuse some of the unexpected tension. “She’s amazing.”

“Of course!” Chaeyoung takes the lifeline enthusiastically. “I haven’t missed a single one of her games since she made varsity last year, so I had to come to this one.”

“Yeah, I just couldn’t talk her out of it.” From her other side, Scott pokes one of Chaeyoung’s cheeks playfully. “Even though it’s our one-month anniversary, hmm, babe?”

Chaeyoung laughs and turns her head to peck him on the corner of his mouth. This time, it’s Jennie and Lisa who fake a gag at the unsolicited public display of affection, because Jisoo is too busy playing to—

— just kidding. Jisoo’s staring right at them from across the field, ignoring teammates and opponents alike as they run past her. She shakes her head, as if trying to clear it, before rejoining the action. One pink-clad girl passes her the ball, and Jisoo pulls back her leg to kick it to another… and promptly upends herself, back crashing to the ground.

Jennie has a hand over her mouth. Lisa can already tell this is going to be very, very bad.

The ref doesn’t blow his whistle, because there’s no foul here: the nearest player on the opposing team was nowhere within contact range of Jisoo. She simply tripped over air, or the ball, or a sharp rock on the ground. The other team has the ball now, most of the defenders are too busy gawking at their fallen teammate to actually defend anything, and, well.

“Goal,” she hears Chaeyoung mumble disbelievingly. “They scored.”

With that unforced error from Jisoo, someone got the ball and passed it halfway across the field to another player, who kicked it straight past the stunned goalie. Now the two teams are tied at 1-1, but the crowd isn’t too upset yet. It’s less than halfway through the game, after all, and there’s still almost fifty minutes to pull ahead.

Except suddenly it’s forty minutes, then thirty, then twenty. It’s like Jisoo’s team is down a player, namely, Jisoo herself. In fact, she’s almost a negative influence: whenever she touches the ball, it instantly ends up in the possession of the other team.

Lisa thinks she knows the reason. Next to her, Chaeyoung is practically clinging to Scott out of nervousness, though it comes across as a rather flirty position. Jisoo keeps glancing towards them, so distracted that Lisa’s not surprised whenever she fumbles again. Soon, her teammates stop passing to her entirely, having noticed how horribly their supposed star player is doing.

That does nothing to quell Jisoo’s anger, however. Her frustration becomes apparent after nearly ten minutes go by without getting within two feet of the ball. Lisa, Jennie, and Chaeyoung simultaneously wince as it all comes to a head; Jisoo charges like a raging bull at the girl currently dribbling across the halfline, mistimes it, and ends up getting kicked hard in the shin when she gets between the other’s foot and the ball. Again, Jisoo’s sent crashing to the ground, but this time she doesn’t sit up quickly.

“Shit,” Lisa mutters to Jennie. “Is she okay?”

Next to her, Chaeyoung stands up, cups her hands around her mouth, and hollers, “RED CARD! THAT’S SUCH A RED CARD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, REF?”

It’s obviously not a red card since A) it was entirely Jisoo’s fault, and B) even if it was an offense on the other girl’s part, it’s certainly not severe enough to warrant an instantaneous red card. Lisa thought Chaeyoung would know that, since she’s apparently watched so many games. Maybe it’s just the heat of the moment, but either way, she now sympathizes with Jennie’s earlier embarrassment at having a screaming neighbor. Fortunately, Scott pulls Chaeyoung back down into the bench before she can say any more.

“I don’t know,” says Jennie in response to her earlier question. “Doesn’t look like it.”

“Ah, screw it.” Lisa gets to her feet and moves to walk past Jennie. “Excuse me.”

“Where are you going?” Jennie doesn’t budge.

“To talk to Jisoo.”

Jennie’s eyebrow shoots into her hairline. “Is that allowed? And what are you going to say?”

“Dunno,” Lisa shrugs, “but I’m not letting this go on any longer.” She climbs over Jennie’s legs and starts to stride down the length of the field.

“You can’t be serious!” Jennie weighs her options, looking between Chaeyoung and Scott’s clasped hands and Lisa’s retreating figure. Eventually, she stands up and hurries after Lisa. “Then I’m coming too.”

Lisa doesn’t slow down. “I don’t know if you should be part of this conversation.”

“Why? You think it’ll be embarrassing for Jisoo to talk about her obvious jealousy in front of me?” Jennie scoffs. “As if everyone who’s ever interacted with one of those two isn’t aware of Jisoo’s colossal crush on Chaeyoung? That is, except for Chaeyoung herself.”

Lisa chokes on her own saliva. “Is it really that obvious?”

“It is, I’m not kidding. Jimin knows it and it’s even one of the first things her soccer teammates mention whenever her name is brought up. Jisoo isn’t a master at subtlety.”

“Great.” Lisa drags a hand down her face. “Still, I feel like she’d be more likely to talk about it if you weren’t there to witness the conversation.”

A light bulb goes off. Lisa stops dead and whirls around, facing a startled Jennie.

“What?”

“You know,” she says slowly, “there is something you can do while I’m talking to Jisoo.”

Jennie’s eyebrows furrow. “Do enlighten me.”

“I want you to get rid of Scott.”

Understanding dawns in her eyes. “Stop the PDA, you mean.” She looks hesitant.

“Do it, and we’ll be even for real. I mean, just think about how bitchy you were over _Pachinko_.”

Jennie flushes and doesn’t argue. “Fine. I can do that, but I’ll have to lie.”

“You’ll have to lie!” Lisa starts walking even faster, leaving Jennie standing behind her. “We’re way past worrying about lying. We passed that point after Jisoo fell on her ass for the third time.”

“Then I’m doing it,” Jennie calls out, voice already faint in the distance. “Don’t blame me if I fail.”

Lisa raises the universal sign for ‘OK’ over her head, continuing on her way. Finally, she reaches Jisoo, who’s sitting on the sidelines and poking gingerly at her bleeding knee, the coach standing over her with an irritated frown. Lisa catches the tail end of his rant.

“— snap out of it! Whatever’s going on—”

“Sorry,” Lisa interrupts rudely, “this is an emergency.” She pulls Jisoo up by her arm and drags the shorter girl a few yards away. Luckily, the coach seems too nonplussed to react, much less follow them. The referee, however, does run over to them.

“We’re resuming play. Are you able to return to the field?”

“Not yet,” Lisa answers for her, cutting off whatever Jisoo was planning to say.

“Okay.” The referee doesn’t even blink at being addressed by a seemingly random high-schooler. “The other ten players on your team will play on; you can rejoin at any time.”

“What the hell, Lisa?” Jisoo growls as soon as he’s gone.

Lisa just crosses her arms. “Okay, time to talk.”

“What are you—”

“About Chaeyoung. And Scott, I suppose.”

“I don’t—”

“Oh, come on.”

“Seriously, I—”

“Jisoo, please.”

“Fine!” Jisoo yells, getting into Lisa’s personal space. “I like her, okay? I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

“Okay, so? I like Chaeyoung too.” Lisa says evenly, deliberately misunderstanding.

“No, you don’t.” Jisoo sucks in a breath, and her face crumples a little. “You don’t like her like, like I do.”

“And that is… how?”

A muscle twitches in Jisoo’s clenched jaw. “You know how.”

“I don’t,” she replies calmly. “Tell me.”

Jisoo shoots her a withering glare, but it’s contradicted by the affection in her eyes when she speaks, “Like I’d give anything just to see her smile. Like sometimes I just want to kiss away that pout she gets when she can’t find the perfect lyric for a song. Like even if the sky falls around us and the world ends, I’ll be happy as long as I’m with her.”

The noise of the soccer game dwindles into the background, and it’s just Jisoo standing there, grass staining the shoulder of her jersey, blood trickling down one leg, words pouring out like a torrent of water.

“I don’t like her like you do; I don’t want to be her friend,” Jisoo says fiercely. The wind tousles her hair and she flicks it out of her face with one hand. “I like her… like I love her.”

There’s a lengthy silence. Lisa gapes at her. “That was—”

“Beautiful? Profound?”

“— super sappy,” Lisa laughs. “And out of character, coming from you.”

Jisoo flips her off, but she seems a lot lighter now, like she just shook off a huge burden. Which, Lisa supposes, she pretty much did. “How about this? I like Chaeng like I want to punch her idiot boyfriend in his perfect teeth whenever he smiles or says the word ‘babe’ for the thousandth time a day. And now I can’t fucking play because I keep seeing them making out whenever I look over and it’s messing with me. Was that better?”

“Much,” Lisa confirms.

“Ever since she started dating him, things haven’t been the same,” Jisoo says wistfully. “Like, she’s back now, but she’s not really _back_ , you know?”

“As much as I’d love to help sort through all your unresolved feelings,” Lisa replies, realizing just how much time they’ve spent discussing, “your team needs you right now.”

“Yeah.” Jisoo surveys the game. Absolutely no progress has been made on either part: Jisoo’s team currently has the ball but is aimlessly passing it back and forth, unable to get a good position since they’re lacking their best forward. “Thing is, I can’t focus at all, not with them up there.”

“It’s taken care of,” says Lisa immediately. “Worry about other things. What about your knee?”

Jisoo looks at her doubtfully, but answers, “Just a scrape. Only reason the ref stopped the game was because it’s bleeding.”

“Well then, get out there,” Lisa pats her friend on the back. “Show Jennie what you’ve got, Miss ‘Opposite-of-Mediocre’.”

“I totally forgot about that!” Jisoo says in a panic. “Shit, she probably thinks I’m the worst.”

“So go prove her wrong!” Lisa shoves Jisoo lightly towards the field, and watches her friend sprint out with renewed energy before heading back to the bleachers.

Well, Lisa’s suspicions— if you could even call them that, more like observations— were confirmed. Jisoo sure has it bad for Chaeyoung, demonstrated by that speech, which, as sappy as it may have been, was also extremely sweet. The last time Lisa loved someone like that, it didn’t end well, and she can only hope Jisoo and Chaeyoung don’t suffer the same fate.

She doesn’t think they will. Honestly, she feels like Scott and Chaeyoung won’t last past the end of first semester. Chaeyoung made it sound like she started dating him on a whim, and Lisa doesn’t think her friend is the type of girl to put so little thought into something if she truly wanted to commit.

When she arrives at their seats, Jennie and Chaeyoung are the only ones there, with a wide gap in between them. They both heave out a small but relieved sigh when she sits down there.

“Where’s Scott?”

“Oh, Jennie got a text saying that the principal wanted to meet with him. For official football reasons.”

Jennie nods along vigorously. “Yes, I often get these sorts of messages to transfer. You know. Because I’m class president. I oversee things like this.”

Lisa did not expect Jennie to be such a bad liar, based purely off other aspects of her personality.

“Oh my gosh!” Chaeyoung squeals suddenly, clutching Lisa’s arm and pointing at the soccer game, where a flurry of commotion has broken out. “We’re about to score.”

Sure enough, Jisoo has finally gotten ahold of the ball with less than three minutes left. She herself is too far to make the goal, so she passes it cleanly to an open teammate, who kicks it hard. The goalie jumps for it but misses by centimeters, and the ball hits the back of the net with a satisfying _swish_.

The crowd goes nuts. Even Jennie cracks and claps her hands together.

Later, Scott will return from his wild goose chase, confused and peeved, and Jennie will share a guilty grimace with Lisa. But Chaeyoung will be too busy hugging a sweaty Jisoo to notice, her teammates screaming nearby at the narrow victory.

And when she turns to Lisa to ask, “What did you say to Jisoo that made her play so much better?”, Lisa will meet Jisoo’s eyes over Chaeyoung’s shoulder and smile with her lips sealed tightly, firmly shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bleegh this chapter, I literally stared at my computer and wrote absolutely nothing for like four days. creative liberties were taken because i, like lisa, am not a soccer expert.  
> Anyway, as usual, I hope you enjoyed it and please leave me a comment to let me know!


	11. accept me for all that i am

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanksgiving is all about family.

“I didn’t get a chance to congratulate you after the game on Monday.” Jimin grins at them, perching himself precariously on the stair rail. “Not a surprise result, though.”

“Yeah, unlike your win,” Jisoo says, tossing a tangerine peel at him. “Get down from there before you kill yourself.”

He catches it, pouting, but hops off anyway. “I told you, we’re getting better.”

“You _better_ be, because last year’s ten game losing streak was humiliating even for the girls.”

“Whatever.” Jimin drops the peel into a nearby garbage bin and takes a seat. “Nice to see you, Chaeyoung, Lisa. Oh, hey, Scott!”

The two guys perform a strange cross between a fist bump and a man hug. “What’s up, bro?”

It’s times like these that make Lisa wonder for the umpteenth time what, exactly, is wrong with Scott. A month has passed since he first joined their little group, and she’s still seen no signs of these so-called “red flags.” And when even Jimin, possibly the nicest person Lisa knows by word of Chaeyoung and Jisoo, is so comfortable around him, Jennie’s warning becomes that much more of a mystery.

“Well, Thanksgiving break is up,” says Jimin. “It’s next week.”

Wow. Time flies; Lisa’s been here for two months, and everything went by so quickly. Granted, her school days had been a little more… eventful than she was accustomed to.

“Yeah, what about it?” Chaeyoung asks.

“You guys wanna come to a party? On that Friday?”

“A party?” Lisa draws out the last syllable hesitantly. Sure, she’s been here for two months, but most of what she knows about public high school life still comes from movies. And in movies, high school parties mean out-of-town parents, loud dance music, and lots of underage drinking. “What kind of party?”

“Oh, people just hang out at my place and do whatever they want,” Jimin says casually. “Maybe bring some food, or a movie, but it’ll be hard to watch because there’s so many people and only one big TV.”

What.

Jisoo starts to cackle at the dumbfounded look on Lisa’s face. “Chaeng, she totally thought it was code for, like, smoking weed or some shit. Oh my god, your face.” She doubles over, almost breathless, and grabs onto Chaeyoung’s arm for support.

Chaeyoung reaches across their little circle and pats Lisa’s hand comfortingly. “Sorry to let you down.”

“Oh,” says Jimin, sounding slightly horrified, “are you into that kind of thing? I’ve tried before, but I don’t think it’s for me. Not judging or anything.”

“No!” Lisa protests. “I am not into smoking weed.”

“It’s okay,” Jisoo’s face is now completely serious, devoid of her previous laughter. “Get high, get drunk, but don’t hide your true self! We’re accepting of everyone, aren’t we, Chaeng?”

Chaeyoung nods solemnly, then ruins the effect by bursting into snickers two seconds later. “Okay, but seriously, look at this kid here! Does he look like he’s gonna host that type of party?

“Chimchim is an innocent little mochi,” says Jisoo in a baby voice, pinching his cheeks. “He lets the grown-ups handle those things.”

Scott just looks bemused.

Jimin’s still scrutinizing Lisa as her moronic friends fall all over themselves laughing. “I mean, if you really want, a few of my friends do throw parties like that. I can talk to—”

“I do not,” seethes Lisa through gritted teeth, “make a habit of drinking or doing drugs.”

“Oh!” Jimin looks massively relieved. “Why didn’t you just say so?”

“She’s in denial,” says Chaeyoung.

“Still in the closet,” adds Jisoo.

That wording makes Lisa glance at her sharply, but Jisoo clearly didn’t mean it in _that way_ , so she diverts her attention to other matters. “Who else would be at this party?’

“Well,” hums Jimin, steepling his fingers, “you’re all invited, first of all. Some guys from soccer, some from the football team, too. Let me think of other people you know.”

“Yoongi?” suggests Jisoo with a bizarre attempt at a wink.

“Jisoo!” Jimin squawks, voice unusually high. “I did not tell you that so— wait, how did you even—”

“Anyone else?” Lisa interrupts in an effort to move the conversation towards a more productive route.

“I did ask Yoongi,” Jimin scowls at Jisoo, “but I’m not sure if he’ll come. There’ll be other girls too, Nayeon and a few more from the cheer team.” He sends an apprehensive look at Scott, who remains impassive. “Oh, and Jennie, of course—”

“Of _course,_  she’s really the life of the party,” Jisoo says sagely, but without any real bite, “can’t miss her.”

Jimin’s scowl deepens into a darker glare. “I thought I told you to lay off Jennie already.”

“Okay, okay!” Jisoo raises her hands in surrender. “Come on, you know I could’ve said much worse.”

Jimin ignores her. “That’s pretty much everyone I can think of right now, Lisa. So, you in?”

“Rosie, wanna go together?” says Scott immediately.

Chaeyoung squeezes his hand tightly. “You know I do.”

Lisa watches Jisoo stab her noodles violently with a fork. “I’ll be there.”

“Same,” Jisoo says after a moment.

“Great!” Jimin claps his hands together and beams. “It’s settled, then. See you there!”

\----

“Since this is the last time we’ll be seeing each other for nine days,” their teacher says, capping the marker and turning to face them, “we’re going to be doing something a little different for today’s class.”

In neat handwriting, the whiteboard reads, “What Does Thanksgiving Mean to You?”

“I know it’s a little elementary,” she continues even as the class grumbles loudly, “but I thought we could all use a break from the book. So let’s talk: what are you guys thankful for this Thanksgiving? What makes this holiday special for you?”

Someone in the back shouts out, “The food!”

“No school,” pipes up another.

A low chuckle rumbles through the room. The teacher huffs out a laugh. “Yes, but beyond that. This is an AP English class, people. Do you love the food because your grandmother’s stuffing recipe always brings back memories of past Thanksgivings? Do you spend the time off school telling corny jokes to your family? I want you to discuss with the person next to you. Oh, and to give you some incentive not to goof off, I’ll give you the last twenty minutes of the period to write a paragraph on this question.”

Next to Lisa, Jennie raises her hand, but the teacher clarifies, “Which _will_ be turned in and graded,” and she puts it back down.

“So,” Lisa turns to her table partner as their classmates do the same, her voice reminiscent of an exaggerated As Seen On TV commercial, “do you love the food because your grandmother’s stuffing recipe always brings back childhood memories?! Do you spend the time off school telling corny jokes to your family? Then Thanksgiving is the holiday for you!”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Jennie says acerbically. “Hardly. I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.”

“Neither do I,” says Lisa, “but that’s because we don’t consider it a holiday in Thailand. What about you?”

Jennie splays a hand across her desk, palm flat and fingers spread apart. “It’s not a holiday back in Korea, either, where my parents are from. So it’s not really a tradition for us.”

“Oh.” Lisa probably shouldn’t ask, but for some reason, she wants to know more about Jennie than the bits and pieces she’s gathered from her friends. “Why’d they decide to immigrate here?”

“What?” Jennie’s lips pinch into a longbow’s curve, a weapon. “It’s none of your business.”

“Sorry,” Lisa says, because it wasn’t her business. Still, Jennie’s reaction only made her more curious, if anything, and she’s always heard the best way to get someone else to open up is to do so yourself. “Just wondering. I mean, my parents decided to move because my dad had an overseas promotion opportunity. And for me… I wanted a fresh start.”

That’s a drastic oversimplification, but there’s only so far that Lisa’s willing to open up.

Jennie studies her for a moment, then relaxes back into her seat from her aggressive stance. “You know my mom was a model, right? Yeah, well, it’s not a job that sustains you past your thirties. The U.S. is supposed to be the land of opportunity, so she moved here for the same reasons as you guys, I guess. A job, and a fresh start.”

Something about the way Jennie says it convinces Lisa that she’s not telling the whole truth— again, bad liar— but she’d be a hypocrite to judge. Lisa feels like she’s really pushing her luck when she asks, “And your dad?”

Jennie’s expression tightens. “He still lives in Korea.”

That arrangement isn’t too uncommon for immigrant families; Lisa’s own had considered it before scrapping the idea. “So do you call him or something? Since Thanksgiving is apparently all about family.”

“I told you, we don’t celebrate it,” Jennie says exasperatedly. “No family over, because I don’t know half of them and they’re all halfway across the world anyway; no thanking God for our blessings, because we’re not religious; and no Thanksgiving feast, because I can’t afford to gain that weight right now.”

“Oh.” Lisa clears her throat inelegantly. “That’s… depressing. What are you going to write about, then?”

“I’ll make something up,” Jennie says. “It doesn’t really matter.”

“You sure about that?” Lisa looks at her suspiciously. “What are you planning to write, ‘As class president, I celebrate Thanksgiving every year because it’s one of my many duties.’”

The hue of watered-down cranberry sauce forces its way into Jennie’s cheeks. “That wasn’t that bad of a lie,” she tries to insist, but it comes out more like a question.

“Of course not.” Lisa bites down to prevent the corner of her mouth from turning upwards. “You did manage to fool Scott, after all, and he’s the very epitome of intelli—”

“Moving on,” Jennie interjects quickly. “What are _you_ going to write about, huh?”

Lisa contemplates this, watching the flag under the clock wave gently in the air conditioning. “I don't know. I don’t think Ms. Dashi will care if I write about some holiday from Thailand instead.”

“You should ask her.” Jennie nods at the teacher in question.

Ms. Dashi waves a hand at her and says, “Yes, yes. As long as you follow the prompt, I don’t mind if it’s a different holiday. I’m sure it’ll be interesting to learn about Thailand’s culture.”

(She gets the vibe that even their English teacher got sick of the relentless analysis questions they answered day after day and chapter after chapter, or simply ran out of lesson plans.)

The pencil weighs Lisa’s hand down heavily, stopping her after writing only the first sentence of the paragraph. _What I remember from my first Songkran Festival is this: laughing so hard I nearly choked on a cool spray of water, the wrinkles around my grandmother’s eyes deepening in contentment as she leaned down with a towel in hand_.

Lisa stares down at the words with a strange feeling squeezing her chest. Her grandmother’s smile, present at every one of those New Year festivals, is a memory that tickles hauntingly at the back of her mind. Next to her, Jennie’s pencil is scratching furiously against her paper, and it’s a small comfort to Lisa that someone else in this room is filling their paragraph with lies.

Yeah, Lisa definitely didn’t think this through.

She reads the line ten more times before erasing it.

\----

“Can I go to a party?” Lisa asks that night over dinner.

Her mom’s spoon clatters loudly against the side of her bowl. “A party? What sort of party?”

The reaction is familiar, so Lisa hastens to correct any assumptions. “No, I mean just going to a friend’s house to hang out. With a few others.”

“What friend? Jisoo? Chaeyoung?”

“Jimin, actually. I think I mentioned him before. But yeah, Jisoo and Chaeyoung will be there.”

Most parents would waggle their eyebrows and say, “A _boy_?”, but not Lisa’s. Hers just share a look before her dad says, “Okay, but make sure you behave yourself.”

Lisa nods rapidly.

Her mom takes a deep breath before starting, “Lisa, there’s something we wanted to ask you too. Promise you’ll try and consider it?”

“Okay…,” Lisa agrees warily, “what?”

“Thanksgiving is coming soon,” her dad points out cautiously. “It’s a time for family.”

“What we’re trying to say is that maybe it’s time to give your grandparents a call,” her mom says in a rush, leaning across the table to take Lisa’s hand in her own. “It’s been almost—”

“No,” Lisa snaps immediately, jerking her arm away. “Are you kidding me?”

Her dad gives her a stern look. “Lisa, it’s time to let the past be the past. I’m sure they miss you too.”

“Miss me?” Lisa says incredulously, with a humorless laugh. “Miss me! Correct me if I’m wrong, but you guys were there last time we talked, right?”

“They just needed some time.” Lisa’s mom looks away, her hand still stretched awkwardly across the dinner table. “They were upset, words were said—”

“Bull _shit_.”

“Lalisa!” her dad scolds, voice firm. “We don’t tolerate that kind of language in this house.”

“It looks like this family doesn’t tolerate a lot of things!” yells Lisa hotly, standing up as well and raising her voice despite the proximity. “I can’t believe you guys even suggested this when you knew how I’d feel about it. Using a holiday we don’t even celebrate as an excuse for, for what? There’s not going to be a perfect little reunion. I’m not calling them.”

“Lisa,” her dad sighs, sitting back down and deflating. “They’re my parents. They’re family.”

“Yeah, they are. Which is why they should have accepted it anyway,” says Lisa, voice cracking. “Family is supposed to love you for who you are.”

She retreats out of the kitchen. Her dad looks like he wants to follow, but her mom lays a hand on his shoulder and shakes her head minutely.

“I’m gonna go change for dance,” Lisa mutters, then turns and flees up the stairs.

\----

It’s been two months, but two months isn’t nearly long enough to forget.

Lisa was an idiot to think that moving would just erase everything that happened back in Thailand. Things like that don’t just go away, even when the people do.

Her grandparents don’t miss her. They can’t. Because Lisa is— Lisa is—

( _Sick. It’s disgusting. I don’t condone that kind of lifestyle._ )

Nobody in Thailand misses Lisa. Not her classmates, not her grandparents, and especially not—

Lisa buries her face in her pillow and cries noisily, the ceiling fan whirring above. It’s been two months, and two months isn’t nearly long enough for Lisa to forget. But what she remembers assures her of one thing alone in the aftermath of her sudden departure from home.

Sorn has already forgotten her.

\----

The car ride to practice is uncomfortable. Her dad keeps glancing over like he wants to say something but doesn’t know what, and Lisa’s glad to finally step out of the car and into the studio.

The instructor has to notice how red her eyes are, but she doesn’t say anything, and neither do the rest of Lisa’s teammates. Someone pats her on the back hesitantly, but most of the girls simply move to the side of the room to start stretching, giving her a wide berth.

It wouldn’t have been like that back in Thailand, where her dance teammates were her best friends and even something of a family. If Lisa walked in with puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks, there’d be a dozen girls offering her tissues and a shoulder to cry on. Lisa can’t really blame this team, though; she’s only just joined, and partway through the season at that. It’s hard to offer comfort to someone you barely know.

Still, Lisa longs for those days, even knowing that she has no real reason to. She has new friends now, better friends, like Jisoo and Chaeyoung. Better because they won’t abandon her at the drop of a hat, and better because doing so for the same reason her old friends did would be hypocritical.

But most of all, they are _infinitely_ better because she’s not in love with either of them. What happened with Sorn will never, ever happen again.

(That night, Lisa dances like she has nothing to lose, and it’s different from any other time, because back then, she had _everything_ to lose.)

\----

“How are you feeling?” Lisa’s dad says, taking his eyes off the road to scrutinize her.

Lisa’s muscles are sore, her feet ache, and maybe her heart pangs a little with loss, but she isn’t lying when she answers. “Better.”

“How much better?” her dad asks, hand tightening on the wheel. They both know what he’s really asking.

“Better doesn’t mean everything is good just like that, Dad.” Lisa stares straight ahead. “You know I’m not going to call them.”

Her dad sighs. “Sweetie, we shouldn’t have pushed you into something you weren't ready for. And none of it was your fault, Lisa, you know that.”

“Yeah,” Lisa says, but does she really know that? Why did she even say anything? Lisa didn’t _have_ to ruin everything by opening her big, stupid mouth, but she went ahead and did so anyway.

“It wasn’t,” Lisa’s dad repeats firmly, as if reading her mind. “Mom and I are fully on your side, and we’re sorry if it came off wrong at dinner.”

 _There shouldn’t even be sides_ , Lisa thinks, but does not say. “I know.”

For a few minutes, only the clicking of the turn signal interrupts the silence. Then her dad offers an obviously fake smile and says, “So, about that party? You still planning on going?”

“Yes.” Lisa’s glad for the subject change, no matter how forced it was. Now they’ll both pretend that everything’s all right, because sometimes the best way for wounds to heal is to leave them alone.

“When is it? Hopefully not Thursday; your mom already bought a giant turkey. I’m honestly concerned for our freezer right now because of the size of that thing.”

“It’s on Friday. And can we even eat that much? Won’t we die of gluttony?”

Her dad pulls up to a red light. “Lisa, you’ll survive. You’re so skinny, and whatever meat is on those bones is 99% muscle anyway. One feast won’t kill you.”

The compliment doesn’t have the desired effect, mostly because it brings to mind another slim girl saying, “ _I can’t afford to gain that weight right now_.” Outside, the moon is already out, and here Lisa’s dad is, driving her home so that she doesn’t have to walk ten miles alone at this time of night. Suddenly, Lisa is grateful for her life despite having spent the last two hours moping over the worst parts of it.

Lisa’s dad looks at her sidelong. “You’re still looking pensive. Are you sure—”

“I’m fine,” Lisa says before he can get the question out, maybe a little too adamantly. “I was just thinking; I love you and Mom a lot. I’m lucky to have you guys as parents.”

She thinks her dad’s ears go pink, but it’s too dark to really tell. “Lisa, what’s this?”

“I’m just saying!”

They’re pulling into the driveway now. Lisa’s dad unbuckles his seatbelt, but before he gets out of the car, he says, “We’re lucky to have you as a daughter too. And we love you for who you are, Lisa.”

Of course they do. Because they’re family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what am i doing? chapter title is TECHNICALLY from aiiyl but a translation of the japanese version which is a translation of the korean i'm reaching aren't i.
> 
> ANYWAY. bp house episode 12! please kudos or comment! i'm a mess and not the mess that you wanted.


	12. this world full of lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone tries, someone cries, someone lies.

“Lisa! You made it!” Jimin opens the door and steps aside so that Lisa can enter.

“Yeah,” says Lisa. “Do I take off my shoes here?”

Jimin nods. “Hey, is that what I think it is?” He takes the platter from Lisa’s hands. “Oh my god, it is! You brought pad thai!”

“Just for you,” Lisa grins at his delighted expression. “I mean, we were supposed to bring food, right?”

“Is that Lisa?” Jisoo comes skidding into the parlour. “Oh, thank god you’re here. Save me.”

Lisa doesn’t even have to ask, because she squints past Jisoo and sees Scott and Chaeyoung curled up on the leather couch. “Ha. Having fun?”

“Not in the slightest,” groans Jisoo, tugging her along by the arm. “I’m going to throw up soon.”

Lisa lets herself be dragged into the living room. “Hey, Chaeyoung, Scott.”

“Hi, Lisa.” Chaeyoung unfurls from Scott’s side, standing up from the sofa.

“She brought pad thai!” crows Jimin, holding it above his head like a trophy. It teeters dangerously.

Chaeyoung hastily snatches it away and places it on the nearby dining table, where a multitude of other dishes are stacked. “Jimin, I swear, one of these days you’re going to kill yourself by accident.”

“Whatever.” Jimin’s about to throw himself over the couch when the doorbell rings again.

Lisa takes a step, “I’ll get it,” but then Jimin is dashing in front of her.

“No, stay here,” Jisoo whines pitifully as Lisa moves to follow him, pulling her until she falls back onto the sofa and on top of Jisoo. “Don’t leave me alone with these two!” she adds in a whisper.

Lisa struggles into a sitting position and takes the opportunity to inspect Jimin’s house. It’s a little bigger than Lisa’s own, and the two rooms she can currently see are filled with people.

Besides her friends, there’s eight or nine other girls hanging around the living room. She recognizes a few from various classes, but most of them she’s only seen in passing. A bunch of guys are huddled in the kitchen around somebody’s laptop, alternately bursting out into loud booing or cheering.

Jimin’s returning to the sitting room, this time with another set of footsteps in tow.

“— again? She’s insane,” Lisa hears him say worriedly.

“That’s new,” is the muffled reply.

“Jennie, you can’t,” he implores again.

“I told you, Jimin, it’s _fine_ ,” Jennie breezes past him in all her glory, a whirlwind of autumn atmosphere, complete with a ruffled cardigan and blown-out hair. “Nayeon!”

One of the girls Lisa wasn’t familiar with turns around, spots Jennie, and hurries to her side. Lisa frowns in indignation when she skirts around Lisa and her friends as if they were carriers of a contagious disease.

“Jennie!” Nayeon, a dark-haired girl who doesn’t quite match Jennie in terms of glam but is fast-approaching, hugs her friend around the waist. “Hey, come over here, we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Jimin whispers something quickly into Jennie’s ear (something about his car? Lisa can’t really be sure from this distance) before she walks away. She catches Lisa’s eye as she’s led to the group of girls in the corner— cheerleaders, presumably, though they certainly aren’t wearing their uniforms at present— before dropping her gaze abruptly.

“Hey, Jennie,” Lisa calls out, just to be annoying.

Nayeon throws her a baffled glance. “You know her?”

“A little,” says Jennie, turning slowly to face Lisa. “She’s my partner in English.”

“Oh, okay.”

Lisa feels a little offended when Jennie starts conversing animatedly with Nayeon and the others. English partners? Sure, but their interactions definitely haven’t been limited to that class. A little? Excuse her pickiness, but doesn’t she merit at least a, “Yeah, we’re friends,” after all their mutually-survived drama?

 _Are we even friends?_ Lisa wonders.

Then: _Why does it matter?_

* * *

 “So, Lisa, what do you do for fun?” Jimin asks later, when they’ve consumed the pad thai— her mom has unanimously been proclaimed the chef of the generation— and are lounging with sated stomachs.

“She’s a dancer!” pipes up Chaeyoung helpfully before Lisa can say anything herself. This diverts Jennie’s attention from her conversation with the cheerleaders, but only for a second.

“Oh, really?” says Jimin, interest piqued as well. “Ballet or what?”

The idea of herself trying to balance on pointe shoes is entertaining, to say the least. “Nah, we’re— like, the team that I’m in— we’re more hip-hop and R&B songs, a little urban.”

“Ah, sick!” Jimin exclaims. “Wanna show us?”

Now those who hadn’t already been listening are for sure. Why miss an opportunity to either see someone publicly humiliate themself or possibly get a great show on the off-chance that Lisa actually is a great dancer? A few yards away, Jennie and Nayeon have ceased chatting. Even some of the gamer boys in the kitchen are eying her discreetly.

Lisa’s never been one to turn down a challenge, so she nods.

Everyone stares at her expectantly.

“Um, music?” prompts Lisa. She _can_ dance without music, but those are her more casual, silly moves, which she isn’t planning to do in front of all these people.

“Oh, right.” Jimin shoots up from the couch to grab his nearby phone. “Hip-hop and R&B, did you say? Well, then we might as well go with some Beyoncé!”

 _“Lemme hear you say ‘Hey, Ms. Cart-ah,_ ’” drawls Queen Bey from the speaker as soon as Jimin hits the play button.

“Hey, Ms. Carter,” Jisoo says obligingly, amusing to herself alone. Lisa, possibly the only other person in the room with a sense of humor cheesy enough to laugh at the joke, is currently very distracted.

It’s “Yonce.” Oh, the irony. Lisa was _just_ getting over those memories stirred up by the events earlier in the week, and Jimin picks this song out of Beyonce’s literal hundreds for her to dance to.

So the good news for Lisa is that she won’t have to improvise. She’s rehearsed the choreo to this song so often that it’s practically ingrained in her bones. She shouldn’t have any trouble performing it now.

The bad news is that Lisa rehearsed it for more than a month with Sorn’s looming presence steady by her side, supportive at her back, irresistibly sensuous in front of her. So yeah, she’s definitely going to have trouble performing it now.

“ _Say heyyyy,_ ” the intro finishes, and Lisa’s about to back down, about to take a step out of the ring that’s formed around her and laugh off the defeat, when she notices something.

Jennie’s watching her. Not giving her a brief look before turning away again in her usual manner, but looking straight at her, like she hasn’t done since the last time Lisa experienced a coincidence as unlikely as she is now, with Sorn’s favorite dance routine being played back to her. Since that evening when Lisa happened upon a photography studio, walked in, and found Jennie staring back at her in surprise.

“Go Lisa!” yells Jisoo encouragingly, and combined with that, it’s enough to make her stay.

“ _Gimme something!”_ shouts Bey, and Lisa gives her something, alright, cocking out her hip and sinking to the floor with that bassline like she has something to prove.

She executes the choreography flawlessly; her muscles remember every one of those practices even if her heart doesn’t want to. Lisa pushes herself off the ground in a slow roll, tips an imaginary hat to her audience just as the song goes, “ _Every girl in here gotta look me up and down_.” And sure enough, Jennie’s gaze drops lower fleetingly before jerking back up to meet her eyes, then promptly away again.

It doesn’t matter by now, because Lisa is already too into the dance to care. She owns Jimin’s living room floor like it’s a stage, every movement intricate and sharp, languid moments laced into the pauses between. The whole thing lasts only a minute or so, and when she finishes, flicking the hair out of her eyes, all the party attendees are silent.

Jimin is the first to break it. “Wow, Lisa, that was really good.”

A murmur of agreement goes up around the room. Lisa searches the faces for where she knows Jennie should be standing, but the space next to Nayeon is mysteriously empty.

“Anyone else have any fantastic talents they’d like to share?” says Jimin. “Chaeyoung, wanna sing for us or something?”

Chaeyoung shakes her head vigorously. “I’d rather not. I think Scott and I are going to go hang out in the back, actually.”

“Oh, okay.”

Jisoo looks thoroughly disgusted as the couple leaves the living room.

Gradually, the surrounding spectators disperse, returning to the activities they’d been doing before Lisa’s impromptu demonstration. She settles herself on the armchair of the couch, where Jimin has resorted to browsing his phone after his last idea was rejected.

Lisa takes a few minutes to catch her breath. Nobody speaks for an extended period, so she pokes Jimin lightly and asks, “So, what type of music do you listen to? Besides ‘Yonce,’ that is.”

Jimin scrolls through his Spotify playlist. “Uh, let’s see. Some pop music, some R&B and rap, like Miguel and Wiz Khalifa.”

“So manly,” remarks Jisoo, before pointing at a track on his phone. “Wait, is that Justin Bieber?”

“Hey!” yelps Jimin, shielding the screen from view.

Jisoo wrestles the phone from his grip anyway. “It was!” she says triumphantly. “So much for manly, Jimin. ‘Fa La La’? What is this song?”

“It’s an acapella version,” Jimin succeeds in prying the phone back from Jisoo. “Want me to play it?”

“Why, is Lisa gonna dance to it again?” smirks Jisoo.

“No, I’ll pass,” Lisa rises to her feet. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom. Where…?”

“Down the hall, to the left,” says Jimin.

Lisa follows his instructions, but when she gets there, the door is closed. But the inside of the bathroom is dark, so Lisa isn’t sure if it’s actually occupied or if Jimin prefers to keep his bathroom doors closed. She raises a hand to knock when she hears a sound.

A sob.

Someone’s crying in there. Lisa’s already turned the handle halfway when it occurs to her that whoever it is might not want to be bothered, but basic compassion compels her to push the door open a crack and peek inside.

There’s a girl huddled in the corner, shaking knees drawn to her chest. Lisa shifts slightly and the light from the hall streams in and onto the figure, illuminating coral-colored hair.

“Chaeyoung!” Lisa drops to her knees next to the girl. “Chaeyoung, are you okay?”

There’s no response; if anything, Chaeyoung curls further into herself.

“What happened?” Lisa asks, placing a hand on Chaeyoung’s arm.

Chaeyoung finally looks up, and her eyes are unfocused, panicked, glassy in the dimness; tear tracks scald their way down her cheeks like tar and the sleeve of her jacket is sodden.

“What happened?” Lisa says, this time with more urgency. Because Chaeyoung likes to cry, Lisa’s seen her do it hundreds of times during movie night at Jisoo’s or even once when someone found a dying bird in the quad, but it’s always in a cute way, small sniffles and watery eyes. It’s never been like this.

Chaeyoung’s lips part and a single, breaking word falls from them: “Scott.”

It strikes Lisa like lightning, shocks her in a moment of sudden realization as all the hairs on her arms stand up. “Did he hurt you?”

She should have _listened_ to Jennie, didn’t Jennie say that Scott was bad news, didn’t she tell Lisa that Chaeyoung needed to steer clear? How could Lisa have been so _stupid_?

Chaeyoung digs the palms of her hands into her eyes, crying in earnest now, and it sounds horribly choked when she says, “No, he didn’t,” before breaking into breathless sobs.

Lisa watches her helplessly, waiting, wondering. If Scott didn’t cause this, then the question is, who?

Her friend takes in a long, shuddering breath. “He didn’t. Jennie— Jennie—”

The rest of her sentence is incomprehensible, but Lisa doesn’t need to hear more, because what the hell can Jennie possibly have to do with this?

“Jennie?” Lisa repeats, just to be sure she heard that right.

Chaeyoung nods, once, and lets her head fall back onto her knees.

Lisa doesn’t get any more time to process, because suddenly the door crashes wider open behind them, slamming hard into the wall. Another person bursts in, panting, as if they’d sprinted all the way here.

“Chaeng!” shouts Jisoo, before noticing Lisa. “Lisa? You’re already here?”

Lisa moves away mutely, giving Jisoo space to kneel beside Chaeyoung and pull her into her arms. Chaeyoung folds into the embrace like it’s a warm blanket, soaking the other’s shirt with tears almost instantly. Jisoo doesn’t seem to mind, though, hugging Chaeyoung even tighter and shooting Lisa a look that screams, _What are you waiting for_?

Lisa takes that as her cue to exit. Chaeyoung’s in safe hands now, and Lisa needs an explanation.

She bumps into Scott almost the second she turns down the hallway. He’s facing away from her, making his way towards the front door with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his jeans.

“Scott!” Lisa advances on him. “What happened?”

His head whips around, and he stares at her, obviously surprised. “Uh, what?”

“Tell me,” Lisa says threateningly, even though she’s a head shorter than him, “why is Chaeyoung crying in the bathroom? What did you do? And what did Jennie do?”

“She didn’t tell you?” Scott’s eyes narrow calculatingly, then dart off to the side like he wants to run.

“Who, Chaeyoung? She was a little too busy sobbing to say anything specific.”

There’s a long pause. Scott glances past Lisa, as if considering what to say. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“Seriously?” Lisa’s unimpressed.

“I swear,” Scott protests. “Lisa, I don’t know, but it seems like you and Jisoo have had it out for me ever since I started dating Chaeyoung. You guys are always acting like I’ve done something wrong.”

Now it’s Lisa’s turn to glance away, “Yeah, well,” except she doesn’t really have an excuse to finish the sentence. What can she say? _Sorry, I’m a little biased because this one person basically told me that you’re a huge bastard, and also Jisoo’s in love with Chaeyoung so there’s that._

Scott exhales a long breath through his nose. “It’s because of Jennie, isn’t it?’

“How did you know?” asks Lisa, startled. It’s a dead giveaway that he’s right. Oops.

“So it is,” he mutters. “Listen, I don’t know what she’s told you, but I’m really not a bad person.”

Lisa drops whatever pretenses she had because they’re useless now. “Okay, fine. Jennie told me that you tried to make a move on one of her friends and it didn’t work out. She said that was because her friend saw a lot of ‘red flags’ on your part, so forgive me for being a little suspicious.”

“You mean Nayeon?” scoffs Scott. “Sure, I asked her out, but she didn’t say no because of any ‘red flags.’ I mean, she didn’t even say no.”

Lisa’s world slows to a halt. “What?”

“She didn’t say no,” Scott repeats steadfastly. “I asked Nayeon out because she was cute and nice, she said yes, and we went on a couple of dates. But it was just supposed to be casual, and Nayeon wanted to make it official. I realized that she wasn’t who I wanted to be with. So I know it was kind of a jerk move, but because I’d already had a crush on Rosie for such a long time, I didn’t want to get into any commitments that I wasn’t ready for.”

“Hold on,” Lisa tries to wrap her mind around this. “ _You_ rejected Nayeon?”

“Yeah,” says Scott. “And I tried to let her down as nicely as possible, but she didn’t take it well. And neither did Jennie, her best friend. So when I started dating Rosie later, I bet they weren’t happy about it.”

The world is spinning again, but this time tilted on its axis. Jimin’s expensive hardwood floor is smooth and cool, but it feels sticky against Lisa’s feet, as muddy as her thoughts.

Was the real reason Jennie didn’t want Chaeyoung and Scott to be a couple because her best friend was _jealous_ that her ex was dating again? Was there really nothing wrong with Scott, this whole time? Lisa had been a little doubtful when the “red flags” didn’t surface after the first months, yeah, but she’d been so _sure_ that they would eventually, and they never did.

Red flags, bullshit. More like red herrings.

“And now it looks like Jennie was trying to sabotage our relationship through you guys, since you’re Rosie’s best friends,” Scott continues. “Seriously, if you don’t believe me, ask anyone. I’m sure all the gossip circles know that I’m the one who broke up with Nayeon, not the other way around.”

“Okay.” Lisa will be sure to find corroboration for that statement later, but for now, she needs to get back to the main problem at hand. “So why was Chaeyoung crying?”

“She was crying,” Scott says slowly, “because we broke up.”

Lisa almost forgets about the whole Jennie/Nayeon confusion. “You guys broke up? Why?”

Scott’s voice is carefully controlled. “Because Jennie forced us to.”

“Okay, what?’ Lisa laughs, spreading her palms out in a disbelieving gesture. “This isn’t funny. At least what you said before was within the realm of possibility. That doesn’t even make sense. How could Jennie force you, a full-grown quarterback, to do anything?”

“This is Jennie Kim we’re talking about, here,” he returns frostily. “She cornered us outside the bathroom and told us that we needed to break up. Do you really think she isn’t capable of that?”

Lisa’s about to refute it ardently when she thinks back to Jennie standing in front of their table in the library, offering a merciless, one-sided pact: “ _You have until lunchtime tomorrow to return the book. I hope you make the right choice._ ”

The worst part is, Scott’s explanation fits. Chaeyoung herself insisted that Scott hadn’t hurt her, before uttering that one name that sent everything into shambles. Suddenly Lisa’s not so sure anymore; still, she puts up a valiant effort at denial. “Then tell me what she said.”

“Told me she'd get me kicked off the football team. It’d be easy for her, she could just pretend—”

“— that she saw you cheating on a test and get all her friends to back her up, yeah, I know,” says Lisa, thinking back to what Chaeyoung had said about Jisoo. “So… what? That’s it?”

“I'm not the only one at stake. As for Rosie, well,” Scott raises one shoulder and lets it fall again, “it was implied that Jennie would make that ‘war’ with Jisoo look like child’s play.”

“Jennie _threatened_ Chaeyoung?”

It’s worse than finding out that Jennie lied to her to further her own agenda. Lisa honest-to-goodness wanted to believe that Jennie wasn’t actually as horrible of a person as her initial impression had suggested, but this new development challenges that.

Blackmailing Chaeyoung into leaving a relationship that made her happy— no matter how irritating it may have been for the people around her— by using her influence at school is just _bullying_. It’s appalling.

Lisa swallows past the irrational taste of betrayal souring her mouth and points out something that still doesn’t add up for her. “I find it hard to believe that Chaeyoung would give up on a relationship just because some random person might push her around a bit.”

“That’s why _I_ broke up with her. It wasn't mutual.” Scott’s expression hardens. “Call me selfish, but athletic recruitment is probably my only chance at getting into a good college. And also… whatever I have with Rosie isn’t worth the hell Jennie could put her through.”

Lisa’s out of defenses. She’s grasped at all the thin threads of hope she possibly could, searching for a handhold and slipping fast, and now this is all that’s left: “Why? Why go to all that effort?”

“Why not?” Scott’s watching her intently. “Jennie hates me enough to have the motive. And with the type of power that she has at school, she can do anything just for the thrill of it. And she does.”

Lisa’s breaths are slow and seep through her lungs like grains of wet sand, weak in the face of this tsunami of truth. “But I thought— But Jennie—”

What _did_ Lisa think? Every pleasant occasion they’d shared had been because Lisa guilted Jennie into it, telling her she owed it to Lisa and Jisoo to help them out. And now Scott’s telling her that more than half of those had been based off of complete lies. And as for earlier today, well, some eye contact during a dance certainly doesn’t mean they’re lifelong companions.

“Jennie has always been a good liar.” Scott has something like pity on his face. “You wouldn’t be the first to fall for it, but she isn’t your friend, Lisa.”

An eternity ago, Lisa chased Jennie up a long hill and Jennie said to her under the setting sun, Lisa’s shadow stretching hopefully between them like a bridge, “ _We aren't friends_ ,” and it wasn't a lie.

Scott's right. They’re not friends. They’re not anything remotely close to friends. They barely know each other at all, really.

“I’m sorry, Lisa,” he says. “I didn’t want it to be this way, either.” His eyes are still on her, gauging her reaction, before he turns to go, striding down the foyer.

“Wait,” Lisa says, and it comes out scratchy, catching on the rough edges of her throat. “Do you know where she is now? Jennie?”

Scott pauses with one hand on the knob, “No,” and he’s out the front door without a backwards glance.

Lisa lets him go. She has more important things to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, everyone, that's that. heh. chap title from "Stay".


	13. i don't play with them fakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is changing.

“Have you seen Jennie?” Lisa hisses into Jimin’s ear, leaning over the back of the couch. Chaeyoung and Jisoo are nowhere to be seen; Lisa assumes that Jisoo is still comforting her friend elsewhere.

Jimin twists to face her. “Uh, she came in here a while ago but went out again. Why?”

“I need to talk to her,” Lisa says simply, rather than going into a detailed explanation of all the reasons that she needs to find Jennie right now. “Where did she go?”

He points towards the stairs. “Up.”

“The second floor?” Lisa frowns. “Didn’t you tell us upstairs was off-limits?”

“Jen’s already been over tons of times before, so she’s kind of exempt,” Jimin points out. “I just didn’t want other people in my parents’ and brother’s rooms. If you really need to see her, I guess you can go up. She’s probably in my room. That’s the one right above here, in case you’re wondering.”

“Okay.” Lisa’s about to leave, but then she remembers something Scott had said. “Jimin, you know that Scott and Nayeon dated, right?”

“Yeah, that’s why I, like, specifically mentioned that she was coming to the party today to you guys. Didn’t know if Chaeyoung would like to hang out with her boyfriend’s ex and all,” says Jimin. “But I guess it turned out okay, because they haven’t really talked. Probably because those two are making out somewhere; I don’t really want to know.”

It  _ so _ did not turn out okay, and Scott and Chaeyoung are definitely not making out anytime soon. But Jimin doesn’t need to know that, so Lisa just presses on, “Do you know how they broke up?”

Jimin’s forehead creases. “I didn’t  _ ask _ , I mean. But,” and here, he blushes a little sheepishly, “everybody was talking about it when it happened. Football player and cheer captain, you know, kind of a big deal.”

“So…?”

“I think the general consensus was that Scott broke up with her,” Jimin recalls. “I don’t know any details, so don’t ask me. In fact, why are you even asking me all this?”

Lisa doesn’t answer, mainly because she’s already halfway up the stairs, having pushed her way through the people gathered in the kitchen as soon as Jimin confirmed Scott’s story. She bounds up the steps in twos and threes, nearly slipping at the top out of sheer speed.

Jimin’s bedroom door isn’t fully shut, open a crack as if someone had just gone in and forgotten about it. Through the crevice, Lisa can see light blue walls and posters with dancing silhouettes. She pushes it open a bit wider and slips through, closing it all the way behind her.

There’s a figure standing by the window. Jennie turns at the click of the door; her face doesn’t change at Lisa’s presumably unexpected presence. “Hello.”

“Jennie.” Lisa joins her at the window, which overlooks Jimin’s garden, a neat little area with flower beds lining the edges and a lemon tree providing shade for the patio.

Jennie has to know why she’s here, has to know that they would’ve eventually found Chaeyoung in the bathroom and discovered the truth. But Jennie doesn’t seem like she’s going to admit to it anytime soon, and Lisa doesn’t know how to start this conversation.

“It’s autumn,” says Jennie out of nowhere, pressing a palm to the cool glass. “Look at the leaves.”

Lisa obliges, not sure where Jennie is going with this. She peers out at the fallen foliage lining Jennie’s grass. “Yeah, they’re changing color.”

“Everything is changing.” Jennie sighs, peeling her hand from the window and rubbing it absently up and down her other arm. “Lisa, I wanted to say…”

“Yes?” Lisa leans forward almost unconsciously. Is this a confession?

“… never mind.”

Urgh, how frustrating. Part of Lisa wants to grab Jennie by the shoulders and shake her violently, demand an explanation. But because Lisa doesn’t like to jump to conclusions, even when they’re practically laid out in front of her, she’s going to ask a few questions before doing anything rash. “Jennie, I think you have a few things to explain.”

“Oh?” Jennie raises an eyebrow, pivoting to lean against the wall next to the window. “What things?”

“First of all,” says Lisa, choosing to start off easy. “Nayeon is the friend that Scott had a thing with, right? So is it true that she didn’t reject him at all, and he’s the one who broke up with her?”

“How did you—” Jennie looks vaguely taken aback, but swiftly recovers. “Um, I don’t know.”

At Lisa’s unconvinced stare, she amends, “Fine. Yes, that’s correct.”

“So all that shit about red flags was a lie, huh?” Okay, so that was a bit blunt, but Jennie isn’t even attempting to cover up her deceit, and somehow that aggravates Lisa. “You just made it all up because you didn’t want Chaeyoung to get with Scott.”

Jennie seems mysteriously fascinated by a piece of lint hanging off her sleeve. “Okay, so, as I’ve already admitted, I may have slightly manipulated the truth there.”

“Slightly?!” Lisa bursts out in disbelief. “You told me Scott and Nayeon never even dated. You told me Nayeon turned  _ Scott _ down, not the other way around.”

“Who cares?” Jennie says, abruptly shaking off all signs of sheepishness with a shrug. She regards Lisa coolly. “It doesn’t matter now. It’s over.”

“You helped with that, I heard,” Lisa is careful to keep her tone even.

“I suppose so.”

Well, Jennie sure is blasé about the fact that she, you know, lied to Lisa for over a month. And she made Lisa think she was redeeming herself by helping out Jisoo and Chaeyoung, when in reality her motive was simply being vindictive on behalf of a scorned friend.

“You did,” Lisa echoes, deliberate. “You threatened Scott, didn’t you? You told him to leave Chaeyoung, or else you’d get him kicked off the football team.”

Jennie hums in assent. “He deserves it.”

Lisa kind of wishes Jennie would just lie so that everything could be fine. Then again, Jennie would probably fail miserably, Lisa would see right through whatever fabrication she came up with, and they’d be right back to where they are now: lodged in the tight space by Jimin’s twin-sized bed, studying each other warily, boxed in by baby-blue walls.

“Why’d he deserve it, Jennie?” she asks sharply. “Because you were upset about what he did to Nayeon? It’s not exactly Scott’s fault your friend couldn’t handle him leaving her because he loved someone else.”

“Excuse me?” Jennie straightens up, back stiffening. “I hope you didn’t say what I think you did.”

Lisa pushes onwards despite the danger signals that Jennie is practically exuding. “To be honest, it sounds like you and Nayeon are just being so obsessive about a bad breakup that you’re trying to ruin all the other relationships that Scott has. I think that’s pretty pathetic of her. And you.”

“You don’t know  _ anything _ ,” Jennie says in a voice so deadly that even Lisa in all her righteous anger has to resist balking, “so don’t talk about Nayeon like that.”

“It’s true!” Lisa crosses her arms defensively. “I can’t believe you’d stoop to blackmail over that.”

“I don’t understand why you’re so mad about it. I thought you wanted them to break up, anyway!”

“That was only because  _ you _ told me Scott was bad news or whatever!” exclaims Lisa. “But turns out you were lying about everything. You didn’t care about helping Jisoo. You were basically using me.”

“I’d hardly say that I  _ used _ you, Lisa,” she scoffs. “And seeing how you’re acting right now, I’m thinking it’s better that I didn’t tell you the truth back then. You have absolutely no right to be mad at me.”

“No right?!” Lisa says loudly, disbelievingly. “Chaeyoung is downstairs crying in the corner of a dark, tiny bathroom, so I think I have the right to be as mad at you as I want.”

“What did you expect me to do?” Jennie challenges. “Sing Chaeyoung a lullaby so she’d stop crying?”

“That’s not what I’m saying!” Lisa is finally driven to the point of shouting. “How about not making them break up in the first place? That might have worked!”

“I didn’t  _ make _ them break up!” Jennie raises her voice right back at Lisa.

“Oh, yes, because you gave them  _ so _ much of a choice,” Lisa says, sarcasm dripping from every syllable.

“Scott brought it on himself!” snaps Jennie. “Why do you care so much that I blackmailed him? He deserved everything he got.”

“You can’t just threaten people to get what you want!” Lisa cries out frustratedly, furious and forlorn at the same time. Why is this basic moral concept so hard for Jennie to grasp? “It’s just not right.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong.” Jennie shakes her head and moves as if to leave, but Lisa blocks her way. 

“You did do something wrong, though!”

“I’m still not seeing it,” Jennie says, cocking that eyebrow again. “Do spell it out for me.”

Lisa complies, glad someone can finally explain to Jennie that her actions haven’t been acceptable in any sense of the word. “Where to start? You use your popularity to force people into things they don’t want. You threaten people just to accomplish selfish goals.”

Jennie doesn’t flinch. “Are you done?”

Lisa isn’t. “You threatened Scott. Worse than that, you threatened one of my friends. I can’t believe I thought you were anything more than a bully.”

That last sentence shatters any remaining possibility of settling this peacefully. 

Jennie looks remarkably hurt, which makes absolutely no sense in this scenario, because the ones that  _ should _ be hurt are Lisa and Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung, Lisa’s friend who’s never done anything to Jennie to deserve this. Lisa vaguely recalls Jennie telling her that she thought Chaeyoung wasn’t “that bad,” which she supposes was  _ also _ a lie since Jennie was clearly willing to blackmail her for petty revenge.

But that expression is gone almost as quickly as it came, and Jennie’s face twists into something spiteful, something contemptuous, something disturbingly ugly for such a beautiful person. “So you’re mad I threatened your friend, hmm? I hate to break it to you, but I find your  _ friend _ absolutely disgusting, and everything I did was completely warranted.”

“Fuck you.” Lisa suppresses the urge to slap Jennie, digging her fingernails into her palms. “Let’s add ‘calling Chaeyoung disgusting’ to the list of things you’ve done wrong, because that’s just hypocritical. You don’t deserve to call any of my friends anything like that, not when you’re so— so sick!”

Now there’s another unexplained look on Jennie’s face, one of… confusion? But it, too, is short-lived, because then Jennie notices how Lisa’s hands are curling into fists at her sides and she smirks instead. “What are you gonna do about it, Lalisa? Hit me? Or are you gonna keep letting the big, bad  _ bully _ push you and all your friends around?”

“Shut up,” Lisa says lowly.

“I’m not going to shut up!” Jennie laughs, a high, joyless sound. She takes a menacing step forward from the wall. “Yeah, I lied, and I don’t really care how you feel about it. I don’t really care how you feel about anything I do.”

Ah, there she is. Lisa hasn’t seen this side of Jennie since the first week she moved here. And she’s been doing just fine without it, so she certainly isn’t glad for its return. “Jennie, don’t.”

“Don’t!” mimics Jennie, and it’s an immature comeback on her part that would normally make Lisa roll her eyes, if it weren’t for how… predatory she looks right now. “Don’t what? Don’t be so mean? But isn’t this what bullies do, Lisa?”

“Stop,” Lisa says.

“See, that’s the thing.” Jennie lifts her chin and looks Lisa right in the eye. “You keep telling me what to do, like I’m going to listen. Well, I’m not. I’m going to keep using my popularity, I’m going to keep threatening people, and I’m going to keep being a bully if that’s what you think I am.”

“That is what I think you are,” Lisa tells her brusquely.

“Then I think I’ll have Scott kicked off the football team regardless.” Jennie doesn’t look hurt this time, and she doesn’t miss a beat before following up that blow with, “And as for you, Lisa… well, I do feel like I’ve already repaid any favors I owe. So If I were you, I’d get ready for school to start again, because it won't be fun for you.”

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?” Lisa doesn’t know if there are words to adequately express how  _ pissed off _ Jennie is making her right now, but she tries her best to get it across. “God, you’re such a bitch!”

“Yikes,” says Jennie, examining her nails. “Watch your mouth, or I might just have to plan something for Jisoo and Chaeyoung as well.”

Lisa bites her tongue before she can screw them all over and gives in. “Come on, don’t do this.”

Jennie looks up from her hand and drops the air of nonchalance, stalking closer to Lisa, who backs away until the back of her legs bump into the wooden frame of Jimin’s bed. “I thought I told you to stop telling me what to do.”

“Move,” Lisa says, feeling claustrophobic; there’s not nearly enough air in the room to breathe.

“And there you go again!” Jennie giggles, and it sounds off, slightly unhinged and not at all girly, not at all coy. Instead of backing up, she moves even farther in until their toes are touching. “Why, does me being this close  _ bother _ you?”

A rush of heat burns through Lisa’s face for a moment as she interprets that in entirely the wrong way and panics completely, wildly assuming that Jennie must have somehow discovered Lisa’s— entirely physical— attraction to her and is now ridiculing that. It passes soon, fortunately, and Lisa is able to fight past it and speak, “Yeah, you are bothering me.”

Jennie tuts disappointedly, “Guess I’ll have to add your friends to my list.” Then her hand whips up, shoving Lisa in the chest so that she loses her balance and sits down on Jimin’s bed with an  _ oof _ . 

That’s it.

Lisa stands, shoves Jennie back into the wall with a thud and punches her in the face, her knuckles painfully impacting with a cheekbone, with enough force to make Jennie’s head snap backwards sharply.

“I told you,” she says, breathing hard, “to stop.”

And Jennie obeys, silent at last, sliding down to the floor with one hand cradling her cheek and eye.

“You hit me,” she says, small and incredulous.

Lisa has no time for regret, because in an instant Jimin is there between them, one hand pushing Lisa back roughly. “What’s going on? I heard shouting. Jennie, what happened to  _ oh my god your face _ —”

Whatever Jimin sees makes him whirl around, turning on Lisa with an expression of absolute rage. “What the  _ hell _ , Lisa? What the fuck did you do?”

Hearing Jimin curse is jarring enough to shake Lisa out of her stupor. “I—”

“You hit her! What is  _ wrong _ with you?”

Lisa’s anger surges up again at how accusing he sounds. “What’s wrong with me? Why don’t you ask  _ her _ that?”

“I’m asking you because you’re not the one who looks like her face just got hit by a tractor!” Which has to be untrue, by the way, because Lisa hit her hard but definitely not  _ that _ hard.

“Well, maybe you should ask Jennie what she did to your other friend first. Unless you can’t get over whatever it is that has you always on her side, instead of, say, Chaeyoung’s!”

“Chaeyoung?” Jimin’s fury is temporarily quelled by this new development. He turns to the other girl, who is still sitting against the wall numbly. “Jennie, what?”

Jennie shakes her head and doesn’t speak.

“Yeah,” says Lisa hotly. “Why don’t you tell him, Jennie? How Chaeyoung and Scott broke up. How you just told me that you’re about to fuck up our lives when school starts again.”

“Jen…” Jimin trails off uncertainly.

“Not now, Jimin.” Jennie finally looks up, and her face does  _ not _ look like it got hit by a tractor, just Lisa’s fist. “Can we go?”

“But—”

“Jimin, I want to go home,” Jennie says, childlike, suddenly so young. “Please don’t ask now.”

“O-okay.” Jimin deflates instantly, abashed, and slings an arm around Jennie’s shoulder to help her to her feet. “Let’s get out of here.”

He shoots Lisa about a million glares as the pair of them exit the bedroom, but Jennie doesn’t look back even once. Which is good, Lisa supposes, because she doesn’t want to see the bruise that’s probably forming just under Jennie’s eye.

She shouldn’t feel bad, because Jennie definitely deserved that punch at least a thousand times over, but Lisa’s always been taught not to use violence to resolve her problems. It’s just that, for a moment there, with Jennie spitting such hateful vitriol at her, she lost it.

She slumps backward to sit on the edge of Jimin’s bed again, resting her head in her hands and rubbing at her own tired eyes. What a mess of a day. 

It turns into even more of a mess once Chaeyoung and Jisoo enter the room, the former seeming to be mostly recovered from her earlier breakdown. They stand in front of Lisa, who looks up at them, exhausted. “Hey, Chaeyoung. Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Chaeyoung says, still a little shaky, but definitely better.

“Are  _ you _ okay?” Jisoo’s tone, on the other hand, is steady, if not a little puzzled. “Because we just saw Jennie and Jimin leaving the house. Jimin told us you were in here, and… Lisa, Jennie had a pretty nasty-looking bruise. Did you  _ punch _ her?”

“I didn’t really mean to,” Lisa picks at a thread hanging off of Jimin’s sheets, “but yeah.”

“Okay…” says Jisoo slowly. “Because I don’t know what happened, but punching someone seems like a pretty weird way to say thank you.”

“Thank you?” repeats Lisa, perplexed. “Why would I want to thank Jennie?”

Jisoo and Chaeyoung exchange a glance. “You know…”

“No, I don’t. For what? Lying to me? Blackmailing Chaeyoung and Scott into breaking up? I’m sorry about that, by the way, Chaeyoung,” Lisa sends a sympathetic look to her friend.

Chaeyoung crouches down in front of the bed so that she’s at Lisa’s height. Her eyes are slightly puffy from crying and dark with confusion when she asks, “Lisa, what are you talking about?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> to the people that wanted jenlisa interaction, i feel like this isn't what you meant.
> 
> chapter title from "Really," let me know what you think via a comment or kudos!


	14. the only truth is you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 11/23/2018, Residence of Jimin Park: The Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: potentially triggering stuff ahead, not explicit

In hindsight, it should have been obvious.

A Few Inconsistencies Lisa Noticed Ten Years Too Late:

  1. If Jennie had followed Scott and Chaeyoung and cornered them outside the bathroom as he’d said, then why did they leave the living room after her?
  2. How did Jisoo know she’d find Chaeyoung crying in the bathroom?
  3. “Jennie has always been a good liar.”



An Explanation For All Of These Inconsistencies:

  1. She didn’t follow them.
  2. Someone told her.
  3. Does this need an explanation? Yeah, no, Jennie is a failure of a liar.



Lisa had forgotten that just because Jennie happens to be a failure of a liar doesn’t mean everyone else is. She’s been really fucking stupid.

\----

_11/23/2018, 4:11 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Living Room_

The last few notes of Beyonce’s “Yonce” are playing. Jennie Kim bites her lip, forces herself to look away from the most skilled dancer she’s ever seen, and leaves the living room for some fresh air.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:12 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Living Room_

Chaeyoung Park turns down Jimin Park’s suggestion that she showcase her singing abilities with a shake of her head. “I think Scott and I are going to go hang out in the back, actually,” she says, and the two of them leave the room as well, hand in hand.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:14 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Bathroom_

“Babe, you look _fucking_ gorgeous today.” Scott Brookson tugs the jacket collar aside and plants his lips, messy and open-mouthed, on his girlfriend’s collarbone, exposed by her off-shoulder shirt.

Chaeyoung Park wraps her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, giggling. “I’m not dressed up or anything! Just jeans and this—”

She’s cut off by a heated, sloppy kiss.

“— shirt,” she finishes breathily. “Scott, hang on, maybe we should… what are you doing?”

One hand tugs at the zipper of her pants.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:15 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Hallway_

Jennie Kim strides down the hallway, figuring the living room should be safe to return to by now when something stops her in her tracks. A noise? She swivels around to search for the source.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:15 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Living Room_

Jimin Park, Jisoo Kim, and Lalisa Manoban are bickering much too loudly to hear a thing.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:16 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Bathroom_

“Scott, no!”

“Be quiet, babe. Just relax.”

“Please stop.”

“Calm down, I’ll be quick.”

 

_11/23/2018, 4:16 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Bathroom_

The door slams open.

“Get the fuck off her.”

Chaeyoung Park is pinned partially to the sink of the bathroom, hair and clothes in disarray. Her jeans have been yanked down to mid-thigh. At the interruption, Scott Brookson pulls away, flustered, and backs into the wall when he sees the newcomer.

Jennie Kim stands in the doorway and takes in the scene before her as Chaeyoung crumples to the ground and curls into a protective ball, shaking with sobs.

The football player is a good foot taller than Jennie, but he cringes away when she stalks towards him. “You pathetic, miserable, _repulsive_ excuse for a human being. I knew it. I should never have let you get within two feet of her after what you did to Nayeon.”

Amazingly, Scott musters up enough courage to stop cowering and say, “Oh, be real. Nayeon didn’t have any problem with giving it up. She just couldn’t handle what happened after.”

“You son of a— you pressured her into it.” Jennie is shaking with rage. “You talked her into it and then dumped her right after you got what you wanted. So you could move onto Chaeyoung, I suppose. What changed this time, did you realize she wasn’t stupid enough to give into all your pretty talk?”

Scott shrugs, flippantly. “It’s not that complicated. Rosie was just too hot to wait any longer.” He looks over at the trembling girl in the corner.

“You’re disgusting.” Jennie looks like she might slap him, but for all her power he’s still twice her size. “Get out of here before I call the police, you bastard. And if I ever see you near her, or any other girl again, you can forget about that football scholarship. In fact, you might as well forget it now.”

The implied consequences of his actions finally hit, and Scott Brookson leaves the bathroom.

Jennie approaches Chaeyoung hesitantly, picking up the jacket discarded on the floor nearby. She has no clue what to do in this situation, so she just drapes it carefully around the girl, who continues to weep.

“Chaeyoung,” she tries, much softer than before, “is there anything— can I—”

“… Jisoo,” Chaeyoung manages between sobs. “G-get Jisoo.”

Jennie nods. Something like that, she can do. She flicks off the bathroom light to give Chaeyoung, still half-undressed and barely covered by the jacket, some decency, and then turns to leave.

Just before she steps out, she pauses and says one last thing. “We’re even now, okay?”

 

_11/23/2018, 4:17 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Hallway_

Jennie Kim notices Scott Brookson standing by the stairs the second she leaves the bathroom, and takes the long way to the living room in order to avoid encountering him again. As much as she’d like to shove something sharp down his throat, Chaeyoung’s request takes precedence over that at the moment.

As such, she just misses Lalisa Manoban, who takes the direct path to the bathroom and doesn’t see Scott.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:17 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Bathroom_

“Did he hurt you?” asks Lalisa Manoban, kneeling by her damaged friend.

“No, he didn’t,” is Chaeyoung Park’s truthful answer, nearly unintelligible. “Jennie— Jennie—”

(— saved her, but Lisa doesn’t hear.)

And thus begins the misunderstanding.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:17 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Living Room_

Jennie Kim whispers something into Jisoo Kim’s ear; Jimin Park watches curiously as a slow understanding dawns on the latter’s face, followed by complete fury.

Jisoo storms towards the bathroom. Jennie goes up the stairs for some space to think.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:18 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Hallway_

Scott Brookson is on his way to escape when he’s interrupted by Lalisa Manoban.

Great. He just dealt with one enraged female; now here’s another. Don’t these chicks ever get _tired_ of making everything such a big deal? But it takes him no more than a minute to realize that Lisa knows absolutely nothing about what actually happened, and even less time than that to think, _hey, I can use this_.

Oh, he’s well aware that Jennie has hated him ever since he broke up with Nayeon. He always did find her constant presence by Nayeon’s side annoying, because she was a lot less oblivious than her friend back then. Ugh, Nayeon. Hot as fuck, but what a clingy bitch.

Scott remembers the morning after, not bothering to be quiet as he climbed out of the bed, yanking his shirt free from the pile of their clothes on the floor and heading straight down the stairs, ignoring her when she sat up and called after him. He ignored her when she called later, too, letting his phone go straight to voicemail and listening to all of the messages left just for the thrill of it.

First they were diplomatic: _t_ _alk to me, I don’t know what’s bothering you but we can work through it_ ; and then they started to become scathing, bitter: _you fucking asshole, go to hell_ ; and finally desperate: _please call me, how could you_ ; and eventually they stopped altogether.

He saved every single one of the last type, to revisit whenever he’s feeling bored.

So he isn’t lying at all when he tells Lisa that he dumped Nayeon and that she and Jennie were extremely mad after the breakup. He’s also not lying when he says, repeatedly, “She didn’t say no.”

Nayeon didn’t say no. How could she, when Scott murmured against her skin, _I love you, we can do this_ , and then kissed her until she was gasping for breath? No, she pulled him closer so he fell onto the bed on top of her and never, once, did the word “no” cross her lips.

It was different with Rosie. With her, he messed up, got too impatient, and Rosie did say no. Rosie said no, but Scott wouldn’t have stopped if Jennie hadn’t arrived. He wouldn’t have, honestly, and he didn’t want to, yet he’s strangely glad Jennie showed up when she did.

It’s a peculiar feeling, being oddly grateful to someone you hate with every fiber of your being. That’s how Scott feels about Jennie now, the only one in their entire goddamn school who’s always seen right through him. Others had to be taught, you know, like Nayeon, like Rosie.

(“ _They don’t say no to us, boy, you understand?” his father roars, slamming the bottle on the table and wiping at his mouth. “I had to teach her a lesson_.”)

Yeah. So he hates Jennie, he really does. She’s the only one; he doesn’t hate Nayeon, or Rosie, or this idiot he’s currently feeding lies to, because none of them merit anything more than irritation. Like, Lisa has to be really fucking stupid to believe all the shit he’s saying. Jennie cornering him and Rosie outside the bathroom and blackmailing them to break up? Utterly incredible.

Everyone knows Jennie’s smarter than that, more subtle. But maybe Scott’s definition of smart is different than Lisa’s, because clearly Lisa’s eating it right up.

Lisa probably thinks he’s harmless, that even if he had any reason to lie he wouldn’t be able to come up with a good story. Scott’s cultivated that image painstakingly: throwing in one too many “babe”s or “like”s or “um”s when he talks, perfecting a dopey grin, even joining the football team— because high school is all about stereotypes, let’s admit it.

Some might wonder why he bothers to make himself appear dumb when he’s anything but, and they didn’t have to look any further than Jennie Kim for an answer. Jennie Kim, who has an answer for everything, and, Scott hates to admit, is probably his sole rival in terms of intellect. Unlike him, she doesn’t attempt to hide it, and her life certainly hasn’t been any easier for it. Students clamoring for her favor in the hopes she’d join them for a group project— mindless sheep, all of them.

Oh, he hates Jennie _so_ much. If he’d known what a clever bitch she was back then, he would’ve gone straight for her instead of Nayeon. Jennie would have been a challenge for sure, a lot more fun than the naive two he ended up getting. He always did find intelligent people attractive.

Therefore, very few. Stupidity is an easy disguise for him to wear, but a harder reality for most to shed.

If he went for Jennie in the beginning, then things would have been different. Too bad he saw Nayeon first and put Jennie off with that stunt he pulled. Too bad Jennie had too much loyalty to others, like her best friend, to ever be like him, much less his. Now she’s always in his way instead.

Jennie doesn’t need to be taught to see right through him. She just needs to be taught to stay out of his way. And Scott is an expert at lessons like these.

His mouth is running on autopilot now, coming up with reasonable replies to Lisa’s interrogation. Ah, Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. So impulsive. Scott remembers that soccer game a while back, when she’d charged determinedly down to the court to give Jisoo an inspirational pep talk or something.

(Ha. Jisoo. Insignificant competition for Chaeyoung’s affections, really. Well, maybe not so insignificant after today. They should send him a thank-you card if they get together.)

Scott doesn’t really like thinking about that soccer game for too long, because a few minutes later in the day he’d bought a completely ridiculous lie from Jennie without question, distracted by the heat and the obnoxious yelling of the crowd. Perhaps he shouldn’t be so judgmental of Lisa for falling for what he’s saying now, since he did the exact same thing, and to notoriously bad liar Jennie Kim, no less.

(Another reason why she could never be like him. He’s always been a good liar.)

He wraps up his story with that, the biggest joke of all: “Jennie has always been a good liar.” It’s absolutely hilarious to him, but he says it with a straight face, masking his amusement with sympathy.

(Sympathy, empathy, they’re all the same. He’s never felt much of either.)

Lisa is a drill, just a tool to him; so fast, so hasty, point her in the right direction and screw someone over.

(Yes, Scott likes to amuse himself with little jokes like these.)

That’s why he adds, “I’m sorry, Lisa, I didn’t want it to be this way, either.”

(“ _I_ _didn’t want it to be this way! If you weren’t such a stupid woman, I wouldn’t have to do this!_ ” _over and over until the day his useless whore of a mother up and left him alone with his father.)_

He isn’t sorry. But he didn’t want it to be this way, either. Scott knows he’s done for now that Jennie walked in on him doing something actually illegal. It was a mistake.

Win the battle, lose the war. He’s already lost the war.

It’s time for him to win the battle.

 

_11/23/2018, 4:24 P.M., Residence of Jimin Park: Bedroom_

Jennie Kim isn’t surprised at all when Lalisa Manoban walks in. After all, it was only a matter of time.

She’s feeling unusually sentimental after the taxing events of the day, so she makes some inane comment about the leaves outside. Everything is changing. Jennie is so, so close to apologizing for everything—  but no, she’s still a coward.

Lisa isn’t, though. Lisa is brave and righteous and headstrong, and Jennie admires that about her: the way Lisa appeared in magically clean clothes after Jennie trashed her locker, then sprinted past her and waited at the finish line with something like defiance; how Lisa didn’t hesitate to march down and talk sense into her friend even in the middle of a soccer game; how she told Jennie that any person with a sense of decency would have helped her that night.

Lisa ends up being the first to speak, as usual. When she says Jennie has a few things to explain, Jennie thinks she probably wants to know the details of what happened with Chaeyoung. Which she does, but not in the way that Jennie expects. Instead of asking, “How far did Scott get?” or “How did you find them in time?”, Lisa wants to know if Scott is the one who broke up with Nayeon.

Jennie doesn’t know how Lisa even found out about that, or why she cares. Either way, what happened to Nayeon isn’t her story to tell, so she attempts to deny it. Unsurprisingly, she fails.

Jennie sometimes wishes she could lie convincingly.

She isn’t expecting the hostility in Lisa’s voice when the other girl goes on, “So all that shit about red flags was a lie, huh? You just made it all up because you didn’t want Chaeyoung to get with Scott.”

Yes, Jennie admits to lying about the red flags (another bad lie on her part, as vague and unlikely as it was). She didn’t have any malicious intent in saying it; it was just that she couldn’t spill Nayeon’s entire story to Lisa without her permission. Nayeon wouldn’t want a stranger knowing how Scott convinced her they were in love, fucked her, and then left her just like that.

So Jennie made up some stuff about how they’d never even gotten together because of the warning signs, which she supposed was close enough to the truth (and definitely would have been a better alternative). But what happened with Nayeon already happened, so Jennie’s glad enough that she managed to stop it before it got too far with Chaeyoung as well.

None of that matters because it’s over now, and she tells as much to Lisa.

“You helped with that,” says the other girl.

So Lisa does know what happened a while ago in the bathroom. Jennie had started to wonder if she was even aware, with this weird line of questioning.

She’s never been one to brag, so she just acknowledges it neutrally, “I suppose so.”

“You threatened Scott, didn’t you? You told him to leave Chaeyoung, or else you’d get him kicked off the football team.”

Even thinking about it makes her angry. Jennie thinks she’ll just have him kicked off the team either way, because, “He deserves it.”

“Why’d he deserve it, Jennie?” asks Lisa, and Jennie jerks her head around in surprise, because of course he deserved it— and a lot worse— for what he did. But if she’s stunned by that, it’s nothing compared to when Lisa randomly starts attacking Nayeon. “Because you were upset about what he did to Nayeon? It’s not exactly Scott’s fault your friend couldn’t handle him leaving her because he loved someone else.”

“Excuse me?” Jennie’s going to give Lisa a chance to fix that statement, because she kind of likes her and also doesn’t have the energy to deal with another argument right now. Still, a little bit of coldness slips into her voice as she continues, “I hope you didn’t say what I think you did.”

But instead of backing off, Lisa just doubles down. “To be honest, it sounds like you and Nayeon are just being so obsessive about a bad breakup that you’re trying to ruin all the other relationships that Scott has. I think that’s pretty pathetic of her. And you.”

Wait, did Lisa seriously call Nayeon obsessive and reduce all the trauma she went through because of Scott into her _not being able to handle_ the breakup? Of course Nayeon was upset when Scott dumped her, because she found out that all he wanted the entire time they were dating was sex! And yes, Jennie is ruining Scott’s other relationships, but it’s a good thing because nobody deserves to date such a creep.

So Jennie tells her darkly, “Don’t talk about Nayeon like that.”

“It’s true!” exclaims Lisa, crossing her arms as if she has any right to be dismayed in this situation. “I can’t believe you’d stoop to blackmail over that.”

Hello, is Lisa feeling alright? Yes, she threatened Scott with the football thing so that he’d stay away from Chaeyoung, as Lisa accuses her of doing. But if they’re talking moral rights and wrongs, what Scott did was indisputably worse; Jennie could have called the police on him if she wanted.

Not to sound presumptuous or anything, but shouldn’t Lisa be grateful to her, not all up in her face about a perceived slight to Scott? She’s starting to get seriously annoyed but tries not to let it show in her reply. “I don’t understand why you’re so mad about it. I thought you wanted them to break up, anyway!”

She clearly fails, because Lisa’s still all worked up about that insignificant lie and even accuses, “You didn’t care about helping Jisoo. You were basically using us.”

To be fair, Jennie was upfront with Lisa about her main reason for helping Jisoo apologize to Chaeyoung so long ago: she didn’t want Chaeyoung and Scott to get close, and those two’s reconciliation was just a fortunate byproduct. As for her lie, it was just to protect Nayeon’s integrity, and that’s it, and she certainly hasn’t _used_ Lisa in any way. “You have absolutely no right to be mad at me.”

“No right?! Chaeyoung is downstairs crying in the corner of a dark, tiny bathroom, so I think I have the right to be as mad at you as I want,” Lisa retorts.

Well, that’s just unreasonable. Jennie’s sorry that she couldn’t meet all of Lisa’s expectations! She tried her best with Chaeyoung, but she’s never been good at comfort, has never had enough experience on either end to learn how. “What did you expect me to do, sing Chaeyoung a lullaby so she’d stop crying?”

“That’s not what I’m saying!” Lisa is full-on shouting at Jennie now. “How about not making them break up in the first place? That might have worked!”

What on Earth is Lisa even talking about anymore? “I didn’t _make_ them break up!”

“Oh, yes, because you gave them _so_ much of a choice,” says Lisa sardonically.

So they’re back to the blackmail thing, as if Chaeyoung wouldn’t have broken up with Scott either way after what he did. “Why do you care so much that I blackmailed him? He deserved everything he got.”

“You can’t just threaten people to get what you want! It’s just not right.”

It’s almost like Lisa is defending Scott’s actions— attempted _rape_ , Christ— while lambasting Jennie over something that pales in comparison. Jennie is so done with this conversation, so she simply says, “I didn’t do anything wrong,” and tries to leave.

Predictably, Lisa stops her. “You did do something wrong, though!”

Jennie raises an eyebrow. “Do spell it out for me.”

“Where to start? You use your popularity to force people into things they don’t want. You threaten people just to accomplish selfish goals.”

Ouch. Jennie steels herself against the automatic wince and says levelly, “Are you done?”

Of course, Lisa isn’t anywhere near done. “You threatened Scott. Worse than that, you threatened one of my friends. I can’t believe I thought you were anything more than a bully.”

 _Ouch_.

Through this whole exchange, Jennie has been a little confused and a lot offended, and then Lisa calls her a bully, and she’s just hurt.

But she can’t even argue with that assessment, can she? Because Jennie has always been a little too cold, a little too closed-off, a little too quick to retaliate for most people to consider her anything but mean.

It looks like Lisa falls under the category of “most people.”

So, fittingly, Jennie does what she does best when hurt: she lashes out. Scott is the only person she threatened, so does that mean Lisa just call Scott _one of her friends_ ? Clearly, Lisa isn’t as good of a person as Jennie thought if she’s willing to be friends with someone like that. “So you’re mad I threatened your friend, hmm? I hate to break it to you, but I find your _friend_ absolutely disgusting, and everything I did was completely warranted.”

“Fuck you,” Lisa spits back at her. “Let’s add ‘calling Chaeyoung disgusting’ to the list of things you’ve done wrong, because that’s just hypocritical. You don’t deserve to call any of my friends anything like that, not when you’re so— so sick!”

Now Jennie is a lot confused, because she didn’t call Chaeyoung anything, but she’s also still a lot offended and a lot hurt, so she forgets about that confusion in exchange for more anger. “What are you gonna do about it, Lalisa? Hit me? Or are you gonna keep letting the big, bad _bully_ push you and all your friends around?”

“Shut up,” is the only response.

Why? Isn’t this the side of her that Lisa wanted to see, was only willing to see? No, Jennie certainly isn’t planning to shut up now. “Yeah, I lied, and I don’t really care how you feel about it. I don’t really care how you feel about anything I do.”

Maybe if Jennie keeps telling herself that, it won’t sting as much next time Lisa calls her a bully.

“Don’t,” says Lisa, “stop,” says Lisa. It makes her wonder, does Lisa even care that Chaeyoung said the exact same things to Scott before Jennie walked in and _made_ him stop? Because Lisa seems entirely too focused on the fact that Jennie made Scott do anything to consider what was hanging in the balance.

So Jennie doesn’t do either of those things, because she’s too far gone into the worst part of herself to listen. Jennie’s always known how to provoke and provoke and provoke until any chance of friendship is lost forever. “I’m going to keep using my popularity, I’m going to keep threatening people, and I’m going to keep being a bully if that’s what you think I am.”

“That is what I think you are,” Lisa confirms, and Jennie was right, it doesn’t sting as much this time.

“Then I think I’ll have Scott kicked off the football team regardless.” Well, she already decided that but chooses to rub it in since it seems to antagonize Lisa so much. “And as for you, Lisa… well, I do feel like I’ve already repaid any favors I owe. So If I were you, I’d get ready for school to start again.”

“So that’s how it’s gonna be?” asks Lisa, as if this isn’t _exactly_ what she expected from Jennie from the start. “God, you’re such a bitch!”

There’s a word she’s used to. “Yikes. Watch your mouth, or I might just have to plan something for Jisoo and Chaeyoung as well.”

It’s a bluff; Chaeyoung’s already been through enough and Jisoo doesn’t have anything to do with this, so Jennie isn’t going to drag her into it. Bur Lisa clearly thinks she’s capable of something that low, because she deflates a little and says, “Come on, don’t do this.”

Following orders is something she’s not used to— at least, not from her peers. Instead, she advances on Lisa, forcing the other girl back. “I thought I told you to stop telling me what to do.”

“Move.”

She doesn’t learn, does she? Jennie moves, but in the wrong direction, so close that they’d be nose-to-nose if Jennie was a little taller. “Why, does me being this close _bother_ you?”

Amusingly, Lisa flushes a deep red, but stutters out, “Yeah, you are bothering me.”

“Hmm.” Jennie’s never been a physical person, but something compels her to push Lisa back onto the bed— a need for space, maybe, even though she’s the one that put them in this position. “Guess I’ll have to add your friends to my list.”

Jennie supposes she should have expected it when Lisa snaps, but she didn’t, and so she wasn’t prepared for the pain searing across her face and the back of her head where it hit the wall. It snaps her out of the pit in her mind that she fell into, and now— now she’s vulnerable, stripped of her words, her weapons; the wall is cool at her back, trapping her in.

“You hit me,” she breathes out, gingerly shielding her cheek from further harm.

Somehow Jimin is there, thank God, examining the damage done to her face. Lisa repeats all of her nonsense to him, and Jennie just shakes her head because she had no idea what was going on even before she took a blow to her head, and she definitely has no idea now.

“I want to go home,” she tells Jimin, and she hates how juvenile her own voice sounds, but it works.

Jennie’s recovered a bit of her dignity by the time she slides into Jimin’s passenger seat. In his rearview mirror, she catches a glimpse of the dark blemish forming on her skin.

Hmm.

Maybe she can use this.

(Jennie Kim will never know just how much she thinks like Scott Brookson.)

 

_11/23/2018, Present Time, Residence of Jimin Park: Bedroom_

Lalisa Manoban sits on the edge of Jimin Park’s bed, staring blankly at the spot on the wall that she’d shoved Jennie Kim against minutes before. Her friends watch her with concern.

“Lisa?” says Chaeyoung Park, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“You didn’t know, did you?” Jisoo Kim realizes quietly.

“Oh, my God.” Lisa has only one thing on her mind. “Jennie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha, i missed my preferred sunday update and i have to say that classes hit me like a truck this week. hopefully not, but updates may be more sporadic in the future? aghhhhhhhhhh
> 
> i hope the chapter lived up to expectation, please leave me a comment to let me know!
> 
> EDIT: I LITERALLY JUST CAME BACK TO ADD THIS BECAUSE BLACKPINK IS COLLABING WITH DUA LIPA YOU GUYS I WASN'T READY FOR THIS I'M SORRY!!!


	15. would have, could have, should have (didn't)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Too many what-ifs, and all Lisa can do now is find Jennie.

For the third day in a row, Jennie’s seat is empty.

Morning after morning, class after class, Lisa keeps checking a certain desk like a girl in a Chanel jacket will materialize there, drumming her fingers on the table, having finished the classwork much too early. But she never does, and each time Lisa looks back down at her own paper, disappointed, there’s a twisting feeling in her gut. It's an awareness of how awful the situation is, and also an unbridled sense of guilt.

“You hit her! What is wrong with you?” Jimin’s words echo in her head, and Lisa can no longer speak a single one in her own defense. God, what is _wrong_ with her? Once the anger had cleared, leaving her mind unclouded, she couldn’t even recall what exactly drove her to drive her fist into soft skin, to mar that perfect face with a hideous bruise.

It’s not the first time Lisa’s impulsiveness has ruined everything. And just like the last time, everything boils down to trust— a firm belief in something or someone, so easily misplaced. The difference between this time and the previous is that this time around, there was someone Lisa could have trusted. But she chose not to, and that was the mistake— not just trusting the wrong person, but _not_ trusting the right one.

Not trusting Jennie.

Some small part of Lisa wants to protest, wants to justify her actions to herself. Why didn’t Jennie just explain? Why couldn’t she have simply said something like, “ _Sorry, I think you’re confused, what happened is Scott assaulted Chaeyoung and I stopped him_ ,” rather than her actual response.

Then again, there was the, “ _I didn’t_ make _them break up!_ ” that Lisa brilliantly ignored.

Yeah, most of Jennie’s answers can be explained with this new context, but there are some things that still don’t add up. Mainly, why did Jennie confess to lying about the red flags if she hadn’t?

There might only be two people who can answer that, Jennie and her friend, Nayeon, whose name had been ubiquitous in the whole affair but to whom Lisa hasn’t spoken once. Maybe it’s time to change that.

For now, Lisa will have to make do with a whole lot of things she can’t understand, one of which is the coldness clinging stubbornly to her skin as she tears her gaze away from that seat for the fiftieth time.

Is it possible that she’s still in shock? Because Lisa hasn’t really snapped out of it ever since she sat there on the bed, with Chaeyoung and Jisoo delivering the truth cautiously but gravely.

The truth was that Jennie had done exactly the opposite of what Lisa thought, had been there for Chaeyoung when Lisa and Jisoo were not; the truth was that Lisa had been too reckless and self-righteous and headstrong to listen; the truth was that Jennie was, had always been, and would always be so _good_ , so much better than Lisa.

And as Lisa’s fingers sank deeper into Jimin’s comforter— not like _she_ was the one who needed any comfort then— the numbness crept farther up her spine with every revelation.

But numbness is better than pain, Lisa supposes, better than the pain she’d seen flickering in catlike eyes that made them suddenly so human. After that, she hadn’t had much opportunity to see those eyes at all, not when they were half-hidden behind pale hands, not when they were lowered in such an atypical display of forced submission.

Especially not now, not when their owner’s seat is empty for the third day in a row, and all Lisa can do is wonder hopelessly, _What have I done?_

_Where are you, Jennie?_

\----

“Still no sign of her,” Jisoo notes, pouring the dressing over her salad.

Lisa’s own lunch stays firmly sealed inside its bag; she has no appetite for anything at the moment. “No.”

“Same with him,” Chaeyoung says softly.

The plastic ranch container crackles loudly under Jisoo’s grip. Lisa becomes engrossed in picking at a patch of clovers by her right knee.

Out of all the people involved in the incident last Friday, the only one who could come close to rivaling Jennie in terms of who had it worse was Chaeyoung. Frankly, neither Jisoo nor Lisa have the slightest idea of how to deal with the situation.

Jisoo had confided to Lisa early one morning before Chaeyoung arrived, a chilly breeze sweeping across the campus, that if she ever bumped into Scott at school again, she’d beat him to a pulp regardless of school rules. It should be ridiculous: Jisoo is barely over five feet and Scott is seventy-four hefty inches of muscle. But Lisa saw something deeper than mere anger in the slant of Jisoo’s eyes, and she didn’t doubt her friend for a second.

Lisa does think the best course of action is to report Scott to the school authorities, which would surely merit at least suspension if not expulsion. But Chaeyoung is unexpectedly reluctant, and Scott’s absence from the school these past few days is an additional inconvenience. Besides, Jennie, the only witness besides Chaeyoung herself, isn’t here to support their case— if she’d even be willing to anymore.

If only Jennie would just _show up_ to school so that Lisa could… could what? It doesn’t matter; Jennie’s disappeared and Lisa has nothing: not an address, not an email, not even a phone number.

It’s funny, really; she and Jisoo are usually both so quick to act, but here they are, forced to inaction.

\----

The catalyst comes sooner than Lisa expects, in the form of a text from Jisoo the following afternoon.

 **  
Jisoo [16:03]** **  
** holy shit lisa

 **Jisoo [16:03]** **  
** have you seen it

  
Lisa takes her time to reply. The last instance where Jisoo had texted her with this sort of urgency had been less than a day ago, and Lisa had nearly dropped her coffee in her haste to answer only to receive something Jisoo apparently considered the “most hilarious meme ever.” So forgive her if she isn’t exactly in a rush this time around.

But then, not even ten seconds later, her phone buzzes again.

 **  
Chaeyoung [16:04]** **  
** _lisa… don’t feel too bad_

  
Chaeyoung hasn’t texted her in days; she’s been pretty much unheard from outside of school. And now, she sends this cryptic message that Lisa isn’t sure how to reply to. Instead, she switches back to the chat with Jisoo, typing out, _seen what?_

Even as she does so, three new messages set her phone off, all from Jisoo.

 **  
Jisoo [16:04]** **  
** class 28751930 emergency answer me

 **Jisoo [16:04]  
** omfg seriously

 **Jisoo [16:04]  
** CHECK UR PHONE U BISH

  
Okay, okay. Lisa sends her short text, but instead of explaining, Jisoo answers with this:

 **  
Jisoo [16:05]  
** [Sent: IMG_1023.jpg]

  
Lisa clicks it.

A photo of Jisoo’s messy desk spills onto her screen, a sight Lisa is familiar with, but instead of the homework assignments they usually send each other, a magazine is splayed across the table. Unfortunately, perhaps because it was taken by nervous, hurried fingers, the cover is blurry, and all Lisa can really make out is the title: it’s a fashion magazine, not Vogue or Cosmopolitan or anything that famous, but Lisa might have seen it a couple of times in the checkout lane.

Weird. Lisa has like, zero interest in fashion beyond window shopping, so she can’t fathom why Jisoo would send her something like this.

 **  
Lisa [16:06]  
** jisoo i can’t see it

 **Lisa [16:06]**  
it’s blurry

  
The response is swift and succinct.

 **  
Jisoo [16:07]  
** [Sent: IMG_1024.jpg]

  
Lisa clicks it again.

The image is clear this time, and oh, Lisa can see it perfectly.

The cover girl is wearing a Chanel jacket, one hand tapping the other forearm in a familiar display of impatience, but her eyes are calm and serious and steadfast in their certainty. It’s almost entirely white skin, black clothes, dark eyes, light makeup; yet there’s a disruption of screaming color amongst it all.

The bruise splashes across her face in a palette of deep greens and blues and purples, striking against pale canvas. Part of it sinks into the tired grey under her eye, a strobe light flashing in warning, twisting bodies on the dance floor, sweat, smoke, shadow. A cheekbone escapes the darkness and the blemish follows that path with careless desperation, like tangled ivy creeping up a cliff, so fragile in its climb.

Jennie is imperfect and inhuman, eye-catching and breathtaking and heartbreaking all at once.

Lisa has to find her.

\----

The next day at school, Lisa finds that Jennie is everywhere and nowhere.

It seems like all the students in the school have a copy of the magazine, somehow, and if not, have images sent to them by their friends. Someone even pins one up on the bulletin board by the office.

Lisa hears them whispering about the photos when lined up outside the classrooms, huddled together in the girls’ bathroom, even over their math textbooks until the teacher finally turns around and snaps at everyone to stop the side conversations.

It gets worse when Jisoo passes her the actual magazine in class. Lisa flips it open to find that Jennie had not only graced the cover, but also an entire fashion spread of almost four pages. There’s picture after picture of Jennie draped over a couch, silk romper tugged up high; Jennie lounging on the ground with her head propped up in her hands and a wicked grin that flashes just enough teeth; Jennie mid-step, turned slightly so the camera catches her with a startled expression; and finally the cover image again, this time free of distracting text just in case Lisa hadn’t yet examined it thoroughly.

At the very bottom corner of the last photo, there’s a little asterisk and a note: _No unnecessary alterations to the model were performed using cosmetics or computer software._ It’s obvious what that’s referring to, even if the sentence doesn’t call out the bruise taunting Lisa from each of the pictures, and it only adds fuel to the flames of gossip already consuming their school.

 _How did she get it?_ everyone wants to know. Lisa hears all sorts of rumors: there’s the practical ones suggesting she simply fell down the stairs or another mundane accident like that, and the more wild theories that Jennie’s been secretly dating an abusive boyfriend, that someone tried to mug her, etc.

But only five people have any clue what really happened, and two of them remain mysteriously absent, while the rest aren’t likely to talk. Lisa has to clamp her mouth tightly shut in order to stop herself from yelling a confession and throwing all self-preservation instincts into the wind whenever she hears yet another student whisper, _II wonder what gave her that bruise?_

Jisoo and Chaeyoung don’t even bother trying to tell Lisa that it’s okay. Instead, when she sits down at lunch, Jisoo says rather bluntly, “You need to apologize to her.”

“I know,” Lisa’s shoulders slump, “but I can’t.”

“Why not?” It’s Chaeyoung this time. “Just text her that you’re really sorry and you want to talk.”

“I don’t have her number,” Lisa admits.

“Wait, you’ve been English partners for two months now and you don’t even have each other’s contact info?” says Jisoo incredulously.

“Forget that,” Chaeyoung doesn’t give her a chance to answer. “Lisa, it doesn’t matter how you do it. You’ve got to find some way to talk to Jennie. Before it’s too late.”

“Too late?”

“Lisa, come on,” Jisoo sounds exasperated. “You just punched Jennie Kim in the face,” — Lisa flinches guiltily at the reminder— “you can’t seriously be expecting her to do nothing about it.”

Lisa bows her head and says, “I think I’d deserve it.”

“Okay, I wouldn’t blame her either but that’s not the point—” begins Jisoo, before Chaeyoung interrupts.

“Don’t apologize to avoid the consequences, then. Apologize because you were wrong. I—” she breaks off, swallowing. “I owe a lot to her.”

Nobody speaks for long seconds. Then Jisoo says, “Look, maybe it wasn’t as bad, but remember back when I had to apologize to Chaeng? I couldn’t find her anywhere either, and when I finally did it was because of, well, Jennie. Lisa, if even I could figure out a way to apologize, I’m sure you can too.”

“Wait, that’s an idea…” says Lisa slowly. “I could probably get Jennie’s number from someone else.”

“Ah, but that would have to be someone pretty close to her,” Chaeyoung points out. “Jennie’s a pretty secretive person, in case you missed it.”

Lisa nods. “Who does Jennie trust enough to give information like that?”

She thinks of vulnerability, of the only time she’s seen Jennie reach out a hand for help and say something as helpless as, “ _I want to go home. Please.”_

“Oh,” Jisoo says in a mixture of dismay and realization. “ _Oh_ , you are so screwed. He’s going to kill you.”

Jimin.

\----

As it turns out, Jimin might not get a chance to kill her before someone else does.

Lisa’s hoisting herself onto the stage with her hands when something collides with her hard, making her lose her balance and hit the ground a few feet below with a painful _oof_. She lies there on the concrete for a few seconds, groaning from the impact, and has only just pushed herself into a sitting position when her assailant leaps down in a much more graceful manner.

Of course it’s graceful, because Im Nayeon is Jennie’s best friend, but first and foremost she’s the captain of the cheerleading team. Nayeon is also apparently furious as hell, and Lisa scrambles to her feet before the other girl can do anything more violent like kick her in the side or murder her.

“Lisa, isn’t it?” She isn’t really asking, so Lisa doesn’t offer a response. “The dancer show-off from Thailand. Who do you think you are, huh?”

“Hi,” says Lisa, backing into the stage as Nayeon storms closer. “Sorry, what’s going on?”

“Don’t play dumb,” sneers Nayeon, “even though you might just be the stupidest person I’ve met. You’ve got some nerve coming down here after what you did to Jennie.”

“Oh,” is the only response Lisa can come up with.

Nayeon evidently finds that as lame as she does, because she repeats, “Oh? Is that all you’re gonna say?”

“What else can I say?” Lisa speaks quietly even though there’s no reason to; the clamor of students eating their lunch and a few that are _still_ talking about that magazine hides their conversation well enough. “I can’t defend myself because I was wrong.”

“Oh?” Nayeon blinks, visibly taken aback. Lisa is tempted to parrot Nayeon’s earlier words and respond, “ _Oh? Is that all you’re gonna say?_ ” but resists.

“I guess the only thing I can add is that I really am sorry, even though it’s probably not enough,” she says instead, and the shame Lisa’s feeling coats her words like bitter medicine.

“It isn’t,” agrees Nayeon, regarding Lisa shrewdly. “Did you see that bruise? You must have hit her pretty hard.”

Lisa bites her lip hard. “It wasn’t— I didn’t—”

“Save it.” Nayeon fold her arms across her chest. “Trust me, you’d be dead by now if I weren’t already sure Jennie would prefer to do it herself.”

“Have you talked to her?” Lisa blurts out, unable to help herself.

“Obviously, I called her as soon as I saw that cover. It took some time, but knowing someone for ten years usually helps you get information from them. Especially when that someone is the worst liar ever.”

Lisa probably shouldn’t ask, but, “Where is she?”

“Why would I tell you?” says Nayeon. She searches Lisa’s expression and, much to Lisa’s surprise, begins to laugh. “Oh, my God, she’s not gone because of you! Get over yourself. Like Jennie’d let someone as insignificant as _you_ scare her into missing school.”

She can see why Jennie and Nayeon are friends. Nayeon is kind of like what you would get if you took Jennie, made her a lot less reserved, and turned up the aggressiveness several notches.

“Then why isn’t she here?” Lisa says. She braces herself, because she’s about to go into dangerous territory. “Does it have anything to do with Scott being gone too?”

Lisa was right; she watches the amusement drop from Nayeon’s face in record time. “Scott? What the fuck does he have to do with this?”

“I— I hit Jennie after,” Lisa stumbles over saying it aloud even now, “after Scott told me she did something. I don’t mean it as an excuse, or anything. But turned out he was lying.”

“What? What did he tell you?”

“A lot of things. He said that he broke up with you because he didn’t feel the same way, and you and Jennie have been trying to ruin him ever since.”

“That son of a—” Nayeon bares her teeth in a snarl. “Of course he did. Bet he left out the part where he only gives a shit about people for sex and dumps them as soon as he gets it.”

That… actually explains a lot. No wonder Jennie didn’t tell Lisa that in the first place; it’s pretty private, so much so that Nayeon looks surprised at herself for giving it away in that outburst. Well, Lisa can’t fault her, because she does the exact same thing two seconds later when she unthinkingly replies, “Yeah, I realized as much after he tried to rape my friend.”

“What?!” Nayeon’s jaw drops momentarily before she manages to catch herself. She still looks angry, but instead of threatening Lisa again, she says tightly, “Looks like Jennie didn’t mention a lot of things, because even I couldn’t get that much information out of her. So I’m going to give you a chance to tell me everything that happened, and you better have an extremely good explanation.”

Before Lisa can even gather her thoughts, another person jumps down from the stage to join them. It’s Jimin, and somehow the lack of his trademark grin is more terrifying than Nayeon’s earlier wrath.

“Nayeon,” he greets curtly. Then he turns to Lisa, and all he says is, “Let’s talk,” before walking away.

“Hang on a second!” Nayeon shouts, flailing her arms as Lisa takes a step away. “You can’t just interrupt like that. We were having a conversation!”

“Well, now _we’re_ having a conversation,” Jimin is brusque. “You can talk to her later. See you.”

Nayeon’s left behind them, gaping in outrage. Lisa follows Jimin at a safe distance, more than a little frightened, to the shade under a tree nobody’s sitting at.

Jimin doesn’t say anything. He just crosses his arms and stares at her.

“Sorry,” Lisa says, a little desperately.

“Do better,” snaps Jimin. He opens his mouth but then closes it again, looking away as if to calm himself. “Why don’t you start with an explanation? Why the _hell_ would you do that?”

And they’re back to this. Lisa takes a deep breath, because this is a long story, and she can only hope that Jimin accepts it. If not, well, Lisa hopes that Jisoo and Chaeyoung will give her a proper burial.

The entire thing spills out in jumbled sentences that reflect Lisa’s mental state at the moment. Jimin lets her talk and doesn’t cut in once, though there are multiple points where he alternately looks like he wants to kick something or just got kicked hard in the stomach.

“Oh, my God,” Jimin says when she’s done, astonishment replacing his cold countenance. “Scott— I can’t believe I thought he was— that _bastard_! Is Chaeyoung alright?”

“As much as she can be.”

“Oh, man,” he sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I wish you guys would have just talked it out instead of… this.”

“Trust me, so do I,” murmurs Lisa. “I should have trusted her, and I definitely shouldn’t have hit her. Jennie didn’t deserve it. She— she deserves a lot better than that.”

Jimin looks at her solemnly. “Lisa, sometimes it can be hard to tell, but Jennie really is a good person.”

Lisa drags a hand down the side of her face miserably. “I know, I—”

“I’m not finished,” Jimin holds up a hand to stop her. “I don’t think you’re a bad person. Jennie isn’t… I mean… neither of you are faultless here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still mad at you, and hitting her was infinitely worse than what she did. But the thing is, Jennie’s best defense has always been offense. Something you said must have really hurt, and that’s why she escalated things like she did.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” Lisa says dryly, a little self-deprecating.

“I’m not trying to make you feel better,” Jimin retorts. “The only thing that’ll make you feel better is if Jennie forgives you, and I wouldn’t if I were her.”

Lisa purses her lips together tightly. “But I have to try, Jimin. That’s why I wanted to talk to you in the first place. I need to talk to Jennie; I need to find her.”

He frowns. “I don’t think Jennie would appreciate me giving you her contact information.”

“Please, Jimin,” Lisa beseeches, because if she wasn’t above hitting Jennie then she certainly isn’t above begging. “Just give me a chance. If— if you won’t do it for me, do it for her. Jennie deserves to at least hear an apology even if she decides not to forgive me.”

Jimin scrutinizes her for what feels like minutes of silence but is probably mere seconds. “Lisa… I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me something.”

Lisa doesn’t stop to think about it. “Okay.”

“You won’t ever do it again.” A hint of the uncompromising Jimin from before, who Lisa sincerely hopes she’ll never encounter again, is back. He’s resolute when he says,“It’s just, Jennie’s got enough going on, and she doesn’t need any more people like that in her life. If you hurt her, I’ll make sure it’s over for you.”

“I won't,” Lisa vows. She didn’t need Jimin to threaten her, because God knows Lisa will never let herself get away with something like that for a second time.

“Give me your phone,” Jimin holds out his hand, and Lisa can breathe again. “One more thing. It’s better if you talk in person rather than over text. I don’t think you two need any more miscommunications.”

Lisa nods, too distracted by the fact that she’ll finally, _finally_ be able to apologize for all of this to register his words, even if it doesn’t make up for anything at all. Only later, when she opens up her phone, does she fully understand Jimin’s words.

The line he’d typed into her notes app isn’t a phone number.

It’s an address.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy I'm back! please leave me some love <3, thank you all so much.


	16. let's slowly let this go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Culpabili-tea.

She’s not home.

Lisa stands outside an impassive, unyielding door, the chilly breeze grazing her skin. Her knuckles are white with the cold, or alternatively with tension, as she raises her hand to knock for the third time in as many minutes. But inside the house the lights are dark and there’s not a hint of movement; Jennie isn’t home and nobody answers the door.

She drops down to sit on the welcome mat, rubbing at the bridge of her nose with a kind of bitter disappointment eating away at her. It reminds Lisa of the first day of school, when she’d likewise been faced with closed doors and a hopeless situation, except this time there’s no Chaeyoung to help her out.

Chaeyoung or no Chaeyoung, Lisa isn’t going to give up so easily. She leans back against a nearby potted plant, stretches out her legs in front of her, and waits. Jennie’s got to return eventually.

Except eventually turns out to be a very long time, and luck isn’t on her side at all— the weather is _really_ freezing today. This area is known for its stubbornly warm climate, winter be damned, but the second Lisa has to spend more than a second outside, it decides to convert to the Arctic.

As a result, mere minutes pass by before Lisa finds that her teeth are chattering even under the thick sweater she’d shrugged on for the first day of December. Lisa tugs her hood over her head in an attempt to preserve whatever body heat she can, pulls her sleeves over her hands to prevent them from frosting over, and hugs her knees close to her chest.

With nothing to do, her mind considers a number of questions. How long will it be until Jennie gets back? Where even is Jennie? Lisa doubts that Jennie has a car or can even drive, from what she’s seen. That means her mom probably took her out somewhere.

And if she’s with her mom, she might be doing any number of things: visiting the doctor, shopping, even modelling again. All of those could take hours. Can Lisa actually wait out here for that long? Besides the high probability of her catching a cold based on this temperature, well… Lisa has homework. There’s a history project due on Monday, the calculus assignment promises to be impossibly long, and in biology she’s got a test to study for.

 _I can get that done tomorrow_ , rationalizes Lisa, _if I lose some more sleep_ (she spent half of last night awake stressing about today). But even if she can finish all that, she still has dance practice in about half an hour. With the way things are looking right now, Jennie won’t even be back by then, much less have enough time to hear Lisa out.

By all logic, Lisa’s brain tells her, she should just get up, head home, and try again tomorrow. But right on the heels of that, a different part of her is screaming that if she doesn’t get this done right here and right now, if she lets this wound gape any wider… it’ll be the end. Lisa doesn’t want it to be the end.

So she stays.

And stays…

and stays…

and…

stays…

and there’s a hand on her shoulder an eternity later, shaking her awake gently, and a voice that’s softer than the cotton of her sweater around her ears, “Excuse me.”

Lisa lifts her head slightly off where it had slumped onto her knees and blinks the haze from her eyes. Then the cold catches up to her in an instant, and Lisa has to turn her face away before sneezing violently.

The hand retracts a bit. “Are you alright?” She tilts her head back to see its owner, the hood tumbles down the slope of her hair and— oh.

Lisa’s been waiting for her.

Jennie Kim stands silent, her mouth hanging half-open in shock. She’s got one earbud in, the other dangles from its wire at her side as helplessly as her hand, which has fallen away from Lisa. Fingers hook into the bottom line of her running shorts like they’re searching for something to hold on to, and the keys she’d been holding clatter to the pavement noisily.

“Jennie.” Lisa grabs the door handle and yanks herself to her feet. “Hi.”

Oh, Jisoos Christ, can she get any dumber?

Jennie is moving now, shaking her head, backing away fast; she nearly trips over the step that dips down behind her but doesn’t take her eyes off Lisa for a second. “What are you doing here?”

“I—”

“How do you know where I live?” Jennie says it like she did so long ago, like she’s accusing Lisa of something but not with a hint of humor, not anymore. “Who gave you this address?”

Lisa wants to take another step, to bridge the gap, but something tells her not to. “Jennie, I— I’m—”

“I _said_ ,” Jennie shouts, and that in itself is terrifying as she tears the other earbud out furiously; each syllable is a bullet that ricochets down the empty street, “where the fuck did you get this address?!”

“Jimin!” Lisa blurts, offering the name as tribute, tempted to sink to her knees and beg. “Jimin told me.”

“…Jimin?” echoes Jennie, as hollow as the click of a gun out of ammo. A sheen of sweat is drying on her skin from the earlier run, and Lisa can see her legs tremble as another gust of wind weaves its way between them. It sends the shadow of betrayal ghosting over Jennie’s face. “Why would he…?”

“Don’t blame him,” Lisa hurries to say. “He had to tell me. I asked— I went to him for help.”

“Did you now?” Jennie bites out, even frostier than the air around them. “How _fascinating_.”

“Jennie—”

“Leave,” the other girl orders in a tight, clipped tone.

“Jennie, wait—”

“If you have any common sense,” she says slowly and icily, glacially, “leave now.”

It’s not like Lisa wasn’t expecting this, but it still feels like a punch to the gut. For a second, she legitimately considers submission, walking down the steps and leaving all this behind. Then the clouds shift above; murky light sweeps the side of Jennie’s face just barely enough so Lisa can see the faint, fading discoloration there, the last remains of their last interaction— it’s enough to make her stay.

She braces her nerves and replies, “I’ve never had any common sense because I’m an idiot. I messed up.”

Jennie isn’t appeased at all. “Let’s back up, because I’m a little confused. I thought _I_ was the one who was messed up here. How did you put it again?” She taps her chin, as if pondering a deep philosophical question. “Oh, that’s right. ‘Obsessive.’ ‘Sick.’ ‘Pathetic.’”

Lisa’s past words make her current ones sink back down her throat, weighed down by shame.

Uninterrupted, Jennie goes on, “Why are you even here, huh? Surely you have better things to do, lots of horrible people like me to beat up; your _friend_ Scott can even help out.”

“He’s not my friend,” she manages to get out. “And— and you’re not a horrible person.”

“That’s not what you were saying last week.”

“I know.” Lisa’s gaze drops all five feet and two inches from Jennie’s face to the ground. “I’m sorry.”

It’s short and to the point, and there’s much more Lisa wants to add. But Jennie inhales sharply, an astonished sound like she’s genuinely surprised that Lisa apologized for _hurting_ her, and that— that sends her heart reeling into itself, so she holds her breath until the other girl speaks.

“I remember what you did say last week.” The waver in Jennie’s voice is nearly imperceptible, but for once Lisa’s listening close enough to catch it. “That I threaten people for selfish reasons and I use my popularity to push them around. That I’m a bitch. That I’m a bully.”

Having that thrown back in her face is certainly showing Lisa just how far past the line she’d gone.

“And I’m not even going to deny it,” Jennie continues. “I _have_ threatened people, I’ve used my popularity to make them do things, and I entered bitch territory years before you even showed up here. So congratulations, you were right. Why bother to come all the way over here and say sorry?”

Lisa can’t detect a trace of sarcasm in her voice, just bleakness. “Because I wasn’t right. About any of it. And even if I was, I shouldn’t— I shouldn’t have hit you.”

Jennie’s hand goes up to her face almost unconsciously, thumb grazing over her cheekbone and the mark there with the lightest touch. “Well, it’s done, and apologizing to me isn’t going to change anything, Especially since you’re probably just scared I’m planning some kind of revenge.”

“That’s not—” Lisa cuts herself off, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t come here for that. I just wanted to explain.”

“What’s there to explain?” Jennie gives her a little half-smile that lacks any true amusement. “I was there, Lisa. You really did surprise me.”

“Surprised you?”

“Mhm. When you walked into Jimin’s room that day, I’d been planning to apologize for the past drama. Because I was _right_ on the brink of reconsidering everything I thought about you in the beginning. I thought that maybe, just maybe, we could actually be friends.”

Lisa can’t even breathe, much less speak.

“Instead, I got you screaming on and on about the most inane things. And I got _this_!” Her hand goes up again, but this time she digs her nails in harshly, like she’s trying to force the bruise out of her skin.

It looks painful.

“Please don’t do that,” says Lisa, reaching out a hand to stop her. But Jennie flinches back, hard, and then immediately tries to pretend she didn’t.

They stare at each other. A car tears down the avenue, at least twenty miles over the speed limit; a few remaining leaves, drained of all their autumn color, flop limply away from the street at the disturbance.

Jennie steps away from the road cautiously, closer to Lisa. “It’s not like I was surprised that you got mad. People get angry at me all the time, and for good reason. You’ve been angry before, after what I pulled with the trash. But this time, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m _sure_ I didn’t. I just— I can’t—”

She seems incapable of finishing the sentence. Lisa wasn’t prepared for this— this messy sort of desolation; the change is somehow infinitely more disconcerting than any type of anger. “That’s why I wanted to explain. Because you didn’t do anything wrong, but I thought you did.”

“That much,” says Jennie, “was obvious.”

Lisa shakes her head. “Not just that. Someone _told_ me you did something wrong.”

Jennie’s gaze darts up to meet hers, dissecting what she finds there, and moments later her expression crumples minutely. “Scott. It was him. It’s always him.”

Lisa nods.

It’s visible when Jennie swallows, the hollow of her throat deepening, and then she’s brushing past Lisa, kneeling to pick up the key from where she dropped it. The front door is open in seconds; Lisa watches the frame of the entryway engulf her, unsure what to do; it’s tall and looming over Jennie’s small figure.

Then the other girl looks over her shoulder. It’s less of an invitation and more of a command.

Lisa follows her in.

\----

They sit at the dining table, sizing each other up.

Jennie’s house is— well, it’s immaculate enough, but it feels barren and grim and unwelcoming. A calendar hangs from one wall, dates circled in thick red pen, and the entirety of the last week is outlined in scarlet. Lisa pushes her curiosity to the back of her mind.

Several photos are littered around the room, hanging from the wall or in frames on the mantle. Most of them feature a stunning woman who looks eerily like Jennie; her mother as a model, Lisa presumes.

The one that catches her attention is propped on the kitchen counter. In it, a much younger Jennie sits in a what looks to be an airport terminal, peering at the camera somberly. Even as a child, there’s a strangely mature air about her, betrayed only by the roundness of her cheeks.

That same graveness is mirrored in the girl across from her right now, who’s staring at her expectantly.

“I found Chaeyoung—” she begins, before breaking off into a cough. Even inside, it’s quite cold.

Jennie blinks at her, then gets up suddenly, the legs of her chair squeaking against tile. She flits around the kitchen, pulling things out of mostly-empty cabinets as she goes. “What?” she says, when Lisa stops in favor of observing her. “Keep talking.”

“I found Chaeyoung a few minutes before talking to you. When I asked her what happened, all she could get out was your name, and Scott’s.” Lisa pauses again, because whatever Jennie’s doing is causing a loud, rather distracting hissing sound.

“And then?” prompts Jennie.

“I went to go find you guys and bumped into Scott in the hallway. He told me— he told me that Chaeng was crying because you forced them to break up.”

“What the hell?” Jennie drops her spoon with a clang. “Why would I do that?”

“Well, according to him, you and Nayeon had been trying to sabotage his dating life because Nayeon was jealous. And that you threatened to ruin Chaeyoung’s life at school and have him kicked off the football team if they didn’t break up.”

Jennie picks up her spoon again and starts stirring with a vengeance. “I did not— I'd never— and what, you just _believed_ him? Even though I warned you that he was trouble?”

“I didn’t want to at first!” exclaims Lisa. “But then, when I asked you whether or not you blackmailed him, and if you lied about the red flags, you said yes.”

“ _That’s_ what you were talking about?” Jennie whirls around from the granite counter to face her. “How was I supposed to know? I said yes because did threaten him! And I did lie about the red flags.”

“I know,” says Lisa miserably. “If I’d waited longer and asked more questions before, well, none of this would have happened.”

“The whole time, we weren’t even talking about the same thing.” Jennie starts to laugh in disbelief, then stops just as quickly. Even so, the atmosphere is suddenly lighter.  “I can’t believe it. I just can’t.”

“I’m so _stupid_ ,” Lisa sighs. She looks down at her hands, interlocked on the table, and fiddles a bit with her fingers. “I shouldn’t have paid any attention to what he said. I should’ve noticed something was off.”

“Yeah, that would’ve been better,” Jennie says bluntly, sitting back down at the table. “But I’m not surprised you fell for it.”

Ouch. Lisa just admitted to being an idiot, but she didn’t think it was that glaringly obvious.

“No, not like that.” Jennie rolls her eyes at the look on Lisa’s face. “Scott is a good liar… he’s also what you might call ‘a complete psychopath.’ Well, perhaps that’s not the right word, because it seems that he’s able to form _some_ type of emotional attachment. Obsession, that is.”

“You mean with Chaeyoung?”

“No, not with Chaeyoung.” Jennie crosses her legs, hesitates, looks out the window and back at Lisa. “With me.”

“W-with you?!” Lisa sputters.

Leaning back in her chair, Jennie hums a noise of assent. “I first met Scott after he started dating Nayeon. Yes, they dated, and yes, I lied about that, as I’m sure he already told you. The point is, I hated him from the start. Sometimes you just get that feeling, you know?”

Lisa does not know, evidently, seeing how Scott manipulated her so easily.

“He tried to kiss me, once,” Jennie says conversationally. “When I was supposed to be third-wheeling and Nayeon was late.”

“ _What?_ What did you do?”

“Shoved him off, obviously. He kept saying Nayeon never had to know, like he thought I’d ever cheat with him on my best friend,” she scoffs. “And he wouldn’t shut up about— what was it that he kept saying— oh, yeah, that I was the only person whose intelligence made them ‘worthy of being his.’”

“What the fuck,” says Lisa intelligently.

“Exactly.”

“Then what happened?”

“I got the hell out of there. He didn’t chase me, probably because he was too surprised that I declined his generous offer. Then I texted Nayeon to skip the date and come over so I could tell her what happened.”

Lisa’s in shock. “And she didn’t break up with him immediately?”

“No, but it was my fault,” Jennie bows her head, looking ashamed. “I don’t know. I couldn’t manage to get the words out. Maybe I was… afraid? Of what, I don’t know, but I was unnerved for sure. I ended up just warning her that there was something _wrong_ with Scott, and she said she’d be careful, but—”

“She wasn’t,” Lisa guesses. “Was it— was it like what happened with Chaeyoung?”

“No, it wasn’t… Nayeon fell for him; she made that decision, ultimately. Then she called me one morning in tears like, ‘ _You were right, he’s gone, he fucked me and left.’_ ”

“Oh, my God.” Lisa recalls how Nayeon had skirted around their group back at the party. She assumed the cheerleader had deemed such unpopular beings beneath her dignity, but now she realizes that Nayeon hadn’t been avoiding them, only one person of the group in particular.

“That’s what made me realize,” Jennie says, mouth a serious slash across her face. “Scott wasn’t just talking nonsense that day— he believed it. He’s completely insane. He’s dangerous.”

That scene in the cramped bathroom of Jimin’s house flashes across her mind. “Chaeyoung.”

“Right. He gave up on persuasion and went straight to force, and that could’ve…” Jennie trails off, balling her hands into fists on the table. “If I told you the truth about what happened with Nayeon, if I’d tried harder to break them up, Chaeyoung would never have been in that situation. It was _my_ fault.”

“You saved her!” Lisa points out. “There’s nothing more you could’ve done without seeing the future.”

“Hm,” is the only response, delivered in a way that makes it obvious Jennie disagrees. Behind her, the hissing sound from earlier has returned, and Lisa sees a sheen of vapor. It’s a kettle.

Jennie gets up to tend to it and returns with two mugs, one of which she slides across the table to Lisa and the other she clutches between her hands, blowing on it lightly. Lisa looks down at a steaming cup of chamomile tea and thinks back to how she’d coughed earlier, and how Jennie had glanced down briefly at her shivering hands. All of a sudden, it’s as if the heat radiating from the cup is choking her.

“I didn’t add honey or anything,” Jennie is saying, “but hopefully it’s fine without…”

Lisa’s eyes are mysteriously as damp as the teabag. “Jennie, I—”

“Yeah?” Jennie brings her gaze up to meet Lisa’s own and her jaw drops. “Wait, are you _crying_?”

“N-no.” Goddamnit, Lisa isn’t yet but she will be soon.

“You are!” Jennie gapes at her. “No, please don’t, seriously. I’m not qualified to deal with stuff like this, I just thought it was cold and you fell asleep outside for who knows how long—”

Lisa kind of wants to knock over the table and hug her. Instead, she pushes the tea vaguely away from her. “I’m so _sorry_ , god, Jennie. I don’t deserve this, and I don’t deserve your forgiveness, take it back—”

“Lisa, I thought I told you to stop telling me what to do,” says Jennie exasperatedly. The corner of her mouth inches upward. “Did you forget already?”

“Kind of hard to.” Lisa wipes at her eyes sloppily. “Why are you being so nice? No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that— don’t laugh! You weren’t this nice to me even before I punched you in the face!”

“Hm,” Jennie somehow sounds both smug and uncomfortable, “you’re right. I guess I’m feeling unusually generous today, so please stop apologizing and drink the tea before I decide to take it back.”

Lisa takes a long, shaky sip; it’s predictably good and sends warmth spiralling down into her chest. “But why? If someone told me today would end with you making me _tea_ , I would’ve—”

“Punched them in the face?” suggests Jennie with a wry quirk of her eyebrow, leaning her head on one hand as she watches Lisa drink the tea. Seeing Lisa’s expression, which is the complete opposite of amusement, she quickly adds, “I don’t know. It’s been a long day; maybe I’m tired. Or I’m just glad to find out that you aren’t a total jerk after all.”

“Aren’t I?” Lisa puts down her now-empty cup with more force than necessary; it impacts the table with a _clank_. “Even if Scott tricked me, I still listened to him. I still trusted him over you.”

Jennie acknowledges this with a slight dip of her head. “You did. But… if I’m being completely fair, you gave me a chance to explain, too, and I didn’t.”

Lisa wants to argue— that isn’t valid reasoning at all— but Jennie talks right past her. “If you were wrong to lose your temper at me, then I was wrong also, because I lost it a lot earlier than you. _I_ was the one who pushed you first, remember? And I did threaten your friends in the end, even though I wasn’t intending to actually do anything—”

“Stop,” says Lisa. “That’s so incomparable. You didn’t _hit_ me.”

“No, I didn’t.” Jennie frowns down at her own cup, which is still three-quarters full. “Alright, it’s better than what you did. Does that make it right?”

Lisa shakes her head, but makes no move to contradict her.

At the lack of a reply, Jennie runs a hand through her hair. It’s a nervous motion, anticipatory, like she herself isn’t prepared for what she says next: “We both have things to apologize for, and you’ve already done it a hundred times. So… let me say now what I would’ve told you at the party.”

Lisa can feel it, acutely, when something in the room shifts; perhaps it’s the flow of the air, the tiniest imbalance that throws everything off.

“I’m sorry, too,” Jennie says, lower than before, but louder than a whisper, “for everything.”

The scales tip. Outside, the leaves are no longer changing color, but _this_ moment— right here, right now— is when everything will truly change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me to everyone in the comments: "haha oFC i WiLL bE uPdATING WeEkLy aGAin"  
> me two weeks later: here ya go oops
> 
> i hope you enjoyed it nevertheless! thanks for reading!


	17. we haven't talked all morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fairy tale, fable, tragedy... what type of story is this?

“She made you _tea_?” Jisoo chokes on her water and hastens to plunk the bottle back down on their table.

“Keep it down!” Lisa hisses. She, along with several other members of the class, watch her coughing friend with no small amount of concern. “She’s right there.”

Thankfully, the girl in the front is either too far away or hasn’t been paying attention, because she gives no indication of hearing them. Jisoo wipes at her mouth, pokes a little sulkily at the droplets now dotting her worksheet, and says again in a quieter tone that retains all its incredulity, “Jennie made you tea?”

“Yeah. I—”

“Jennie made you _tea_ ,” Jisoo can’t seem to stop repeating it. “ _Jennie_ made you tea!”

“Yes!” Now Lisa’s the one who has to lower her voice when the teacher shoots them a warning glare. “Yes, she made me tea. I know. That’s how I reacted too.”

(It’s not quite; the flabbergasted gawking was there but accompanied by a lot more crying. Jisoo doesn’t need to know that, so Lisa’s just… not going to bring it up.)

“Jennie _made you_ tea,” Jisoo says for the umpteenth time. Before Lisa can roll her eyes in exasperation, she continues, “And after you drank it, you didn’t have to go to the hospital? Or call the police, even?”

Lisa ends up rolling her eyes anyway. “No, Jisoo, it wasn’t poisoned; it was actually very nice tea.”

“Let me get this straight.” Jisoo abandons any pretense of listening to the teacher ramble on about vectors and swivels in her seat to stare at Lisa. “Not only did Jennie not freak out and murder you, she invited you into her house and made you tea? Just like that?”

“Well, she _did_ freak out,” says Lisa, “at first she was really mad, telling me to get out and things like that. But after I said I wanted to apologize, she got, I’m not sure, sad instead. I didn’t know what to think.”

Her friend gives her an even more disbelieving look than before. “You’re saying you hurt Jennie’s feelings? I didn’t even know they existed.”

“Jisoo!”

“I know, I know, only joking! Of course she has feelings.” Jisoo slouches forward over her desk, folding her arms over each other and laying her head on top of them. She looks up at Lisa, sideways. “I can’t exactly hate Jennie anymore, can I? It’s weird. I’m still getting used to it.”

“Yeah,” is about the only way Lisa can respond. How can any of them hate Jennie anymore, after this?

“You know what else is weird? The fact that Jennie forgave you so eas—”

“Jisoo, Lisa,” the teacher cuts off the conversation from the front of the classroom, capping his pen with a severe frown. “Next time I catch you two talking, I’m going to have to switch your seats.”

“Sorry,” they mutter, turning around to face where their teacher stands in front of the whiteboard. He glares at Jisoo and Lisa for a few more seconds before resuming the lesson.

Out of the corner of her mouth, Jisoo hisses to her, “Unbelievable, Manoban. You’re _unbelievably_ lucky.”

\----

At the same time, Jennie Kim also turns away, having glanced over her shoulder along with the rest of the class at the disruption. A brief pause before the teacher called the two out was enough for her to overhear both her name and Jisoo’s incredulity, and now she has a good idea of exactly what they were discussing.

Jennie’s positive the tips of her ears are red as she strains to catch the last of Jisoo’s words and can only hope they aren’t looking at her. She’s not sure why she finds this of all things embarrassing; Jennie’s quite used to hearing people whisper about her. Especially today before class started, when she’d walked through the hallways with the skin on her cheek healed and unmarred as ever, past photos of herself on the bulletin board that showed precisely the opposite.

Jennie takes a moment to wonder if she’s insane or simply stupid.

She’s not going to take it back, of course, but Jisoo is right: it’s unbelievable how easily she forgave Lisa. Heck, in the past she retaliated worse to Jisoo’s petty pranks than she did with Lisa. Jennie’s pretty sure that after someone punched her in the face, the last thing she was supposed to do was invite them into her house and make them a cup of tea. (Hopefully Jisoo doesn’t know about that last part.)

What she should have done was kick Lisa out, like she’d originally intended. Jennie should have taken the boiling water and poured it on Lisa’s head instead of into a mug. She should have stayed angry; she _could_ have because it was well within her rights after what Lisa did. She would have, too, if it weren’t for…

Lisa— look, okay, before that Friday Lisa had been everything Jennie wanted to be but couldn’t. She’d seemed like a character from a novel, a fairy tale, maybe. Not that she’d ever admit that to Lisa’s face.

Jennie used to love those kinds of stories, where the prince came sweeping in on his white horse at the very last minute and saved the day. She’d found them on her own, sneaking books home from Jimin’s house after they met in kindergarten, because her mom didn’t approve and never would.

When she was little, Jennie’s mom only ever told her one story, over and over again: one about a boy and a girl, not love but lack thereof. It’s been so long since then that despite the number of times she listened to it, Jennie doesn’t remember all the details. She knows she cried a lot— humiliating, she’d never come close to it now— pleaded with her mom to change the ending, and was let down every time.

Jennie didn’t like that story very much. But eventually she gave in, switched over to novels like _Pachinko_ that more accurately showed the harshness of the world she lived in, and forgot all about magicians and superheroes and princes in favor of more realistic, flawed characters.

Until Lisa stormed into her world with all the force of a tornado, tore Jennie’s preconceptions into debris and sent them flying into the air. It sounds dramatic, but really, what else could Jennie say when Lisa’d slid into the chair next to hers and whispered, _hi, chaeyoung told me to talk to you_ , after she had finally managed to push everyone else away?

Yeah, to Jennie, Lisa’d seemed like the kind of person she’d only ever read about, the kind whose actions and indeed very existence screamed _hero hero hero_ at those around her. Untouchable to someone like her, who was hardly fit to play even the villain, much less have her own story.

Then Lisa broke that veneer between them, ripped through it with a single blow, and suddenly Lisa was a lot more similar to the characters from her mother’s story than anything else. That hurt— that meant one of two things: that Jennie _was_ the villain after all, or that Lisa wasn’t a hero at all.

Both of which hadn’t been ideal, so when Lisa showed up at her door with a familiar boy’s name on her lips, Jennie had been too quick to accept it and put the blame on someone other than the two of them.

Well, over the weekend, Jennie’s been thinking about it a lot. She’d set herself up for disappointment by putting someone on a pedestal like that, and she missed the middle ground somewhere. Lisa isn’t a fairy tale prince, but she’s not one of the embittered, cynical beings Jennie’s mother had described to her either.

This is life, not fiction; they’re real people, not characters. Lisa’s a _protagonist_ : not a hero, not a villain; and maybe Jennie’s not a villain either— the only person who comes close to fitting that description is Scott, who truly terrifies her.

Speaking of which, she still has to deal with him.

Besides, Lisa had waited for her outside the house for what must have been at least an hour. Jennie knows from experience how cold it can get, and nobody ever made _her_ a goddamn cup of tea no matter how hard she wished, so… why not?

(Those are two of Jennie’s reasons for forgiving Lisa so easily; there’s two more that she’s aware of deep down but not willing to accept just yet. The first is that always, _always_ , Jennie forgives too easily the people who hurt her the most. She should have learned better by now, but, well.

The other—)

\----

“I _love_ her,” Jisoo throws herself and her backpack down on the grass next to Lisa. “Well, no, I don’t, but that girl is a fucking _mastermind_.”

Lisa swallows down a mouthful of rice and asks, “Who?”

“Who do you think?” When Lisa still gives no sign of recognition, Jisoo sighs deeply. “I keep forgetting you never go on Instagram. When was the last time you posted again? Seriously, if you were a celebrity your fans would die from lack of content.”

“Good thing I’m not, then. So who were you talking about?”

In lieu of an answer, Jisoo pulls out her phone, tapping the screen a few times. “Look.”

Lisa peers over at it to find a very familiar magazine cover. She groans and pushes it away. “Why are you showing me this again? I already feel bad enough, thanks, so let’s move on.”

“No, _look_.” Jisoo shoves her phone insistently in Lisa’s face again.

Upon second glance, Lisa notices what she hadn’t before. It’s the picture from the magazine that Jisoo had sent her, yes, but it’s not _from_ the magazine this time. Instead, what she’s seeing now is an Instagram post of the image open on a computer’s editing app, apparently still under progress for the final product.

The user who posted it is @jennierubyjane.

“You follow Jennie?” is the first thing that crosses Lisa’s mind.

“Everyone follows Jennie,” Jisoo says matter-of-factly. “I did it before The Incident and never bothered to unfollow her since she hardly posts anyway. Like you.”

Lisa ignores that and asks, “I don’t get it. Why’d she post this now?”

“The _caption_ , Lisa." 

  
**jennierubyjane** might be pretty but it hurt  (Fisted Hand Sign ≊ Oncoming Fist) @scottbrk  
  


“What the—” Lisa snatches the phone from Jisoo’s hand, and her friend doesn’t even protest. “Is she—?”

Jennie posted the picture an hour and a half ago, just before the start of third period, and already the comment section underneath is a mess. Lisa recognizes a good portion of the names, mostly her classmates, and they’re all reacting exactly as expected.  
  


**im_rly_nayeon** jen what the fkity fk, explanation at lunch thanks

**chimin3** @im_rly_nayeon agree. think i have an idea but idk

**m.yooongi** hmMMmm interesting

**hichaheebye** jennie he hit you?!?!  @jennierubyjane @scottbrk

**kaijong** @scottbrk u were my bro but hitting girls is messed up

**watching_taev** are you serious  @scottbrk watch your back

**pepi_jy_** sure looks like it hurt. uncool  @scottbrk

**bae_irene** @jennierubyjane wait you should report him  
  


“See?” Jisoo says, taking the phone from her limp grasp— there’s still several more comments she hasn’t read through, but those probably summarized the gist of it. “Told you. It’s insane.”

Maybe Lisa just doesn’t get it, but: “So… what?”

“So what?!” Jisoo gapes at her. “Isn’t it obvious? Jennie basically just implied that Scott hit her or something. Instead of _you_.”

“Is it going to actually do anything though?”

“Yes! It’s Jennie’s first post in like a year; everyone’s already all over it. Plus, there’s been so much buzz about the bruise and the magazine cover, and with this? The entire goddamn school’s going to be talking about her and Scott. I mean, just look at the likes.”

Lisa takes another glance. 582 likes. “Impressive.”

“Right? This is her personal account too; only people from our school follow it. She has a modeling account— which I do not follow— and it’s a lot bigger. But 600, that’s like, over a third of our student body probably thinks Scott is an asshole now.”

“I mean, they’re not wrong.”

“Yeah, but most people didn’t know that before. And now they do, even if the reason isn’t exactly true, so Scott’s definitely not going to have a good time when he comes back.” Jisoo’s expression contrasts with the grim certainty of her words; she looks deliciously delighted. Lisa can’t say she blames her.

“ _If_ he comes back.” A new voice enters their conversation. “God, I hope he doesn’t.”

“Chaeyoung!” Jisoo scoots away from Lisa to make room for the other girl.

“Hey,” she greets, taking a seat between them and letting the backpack drop off her shoulders. “Sorry I’m late, I was finishing up test corrections for math.”

“It’s fine,” says Jisoo, pushing the backpack out of the way so Chaeyoung can move closer. “Lisa and I were just talking about—”

“— Jennie’s Instagram post? Yeah, I could tell.”

“You saw it already? What’d you think?”

Chaeyoung shrugs, doesn’t look up from where she’s unpacking her lunchbox. “It’s a nice thought, I guess. But I don’t think it really matters.”

“What? Why not?” Jisoo exclaims, astonished. “Jennie single-handedly made sure that Scott’s school reputation is ruined. She might even be able to get him in serious trouble.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Chaeyoung says again, this time with more emphasis.

Lisa can tell that Jisoo’s trying not to let her frustration show. “Chaeng, don’t you want him to get what he deserves? Because he deserves a _lot_ worse than that for—”

“Of course I do,” she snaps. “That’s not it. I don’t care about that because he’s not going to come back. He’ll transfer schools or something. And I’d rather never deal with him again then see him back here even if he does get what he has coming.”

“But, Chaeyoung,” Lisa doesn’t want to doubt Chaeyoung’s insistence, but, “what if he does show up?”

“He _won’t_.” Chaeyoung looks over at Lisa, glares at her, almost, like she’s angry. Lisa knows she’s not. “Let’s talk about something else.”

\----

 It’s a testament to how little Chaeyoung knew the real Scott when Jisoo gets a call just before last period.

The four of them— Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie, and Yoongi— are back in the library like it’s any regular afternoon. Well, no, not really; Jennie’s the only one acting like nothing happened. Yoongi’s interrogating them suspiciously, “You _sure_ you don’t know anything about that bruise?” when Jennie slips into one of the chairs and cuts him off by asking Jisoo with a perfectly neutral expression, “Am I still tutoring you?”

Jisoo can only nod, speechless, as is Yoongi from a seat over. He opens his mouth, probably to ask Jennie about her Instagram post, but closes it again when Jisoo shakes her head at him. Lisa, meanwhile, bites her lip, determinedly staring down at her homework as Jennie digs around in her backpack for their calculus textbook, and ends up rereading the same sentence three times.

When did things get so awkward between them? Well, no, Lisa knows the answer to that question. Ever since she walked out the front door of Jennie’s house on Saturday, leaving the other girl with a hesitant wave, both of them have been walking on eggshells around each other.

It’s _stupid_ that Lisa’s suddenly unable to be anything but timid around Jennie. Even before, Lisa might not have been Jennie’s biggest fan, but she was still able to hold a conversation with her. This past English class, though, Lisa tripped over her words so much whenever they had to talk that it hardly sounded like she’s speaking English anymore.

So when a ringtone blares, they all glance up at the sudden sound over the library’s muted chatter. Jisoo fumbles for her phone and hastily lowers the volume. “It’s Chaeng,” she hisses to Lisa.

Lisa knows what that has to mean; she shares a look of dread with Jisoo and inches her chair over so she can hear the conversation without Jisoo having to put it on speaker. Jennie slams the textbook shut at that, eyes narrowed; Yoongi’s watching them curiously.

“He’s _here_ ,” Chaeyoung says into the phone the second Jisoo picks up, high and panicky, not bothering with a greeting. There’s no need for her to elaborate when she repeats, “He’s here, Jisoo. God, what the hell? What do I do?”

“Scott? Scott’s _there_?”

“Yes! Everyone’s avoiding him, but he’s just waiting outside class like always.”

“Has he tried to talk to you?” Jisoo’s gripping her phone like she’s strangling it, or perhaps imagining that it’s a certain linebacker’s neck. “Did he hurt you?”

“I mean, I’m standing as far away as I can. And there’s like, forty people here who’re already suspicious of him, so I don’t think he’d try anything. But Jisoo, he sits _next_ to me in class. I don’t know— I’m—”

“Chaeng, breathe. It’s okay. It’ll be fine. I’m coming over there.”

“What are you going to do? The bell’s about to ring; we have to go in.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Jisoo snarls. (The librarian frowns disapprovingly from her desk, but Jennie mouths a quick _sorry_ at her and she sighs, returning her attention to the computer.) “Tell the teacher you can’t see well or something and get her to switch your seat. I’m going to _kill_ him.”

“Okay,” says Chaeyoung, voice small. By the time she hangs up, Jisoo’s already standing up from her seat, shoving it back into the table with an extremely loud crash. Just as she turns on her heel to leave, though, Jennie grabs her by the arm, stopping her.

“Jisoo, bad idea.” Jennie nods at the librarian, who’s standing up and looking _seriously_ annoyed now.

But Jisoo tears her sleeve from Jennie’s grasp and storms towards the exit, only to find herself blocked by the librarian. “Please sit down and stop being disruptive, otherwise I might have to ask you to leave.”

“What does it look like I’m trying to do?” snaps Jisoo.

Jennie grits her teeth, dragging a hand down her face exhaustedly, and she doesn’t even try to stop Lisa when she gets up to join the confrontation. “Hey, sorry about this. Jisoo, let’s just, sit back down.”

“No, let her kick me out.” Jisoo tries to move past the librarian, but the older woman firmly refuses to budge. “What, now you don’t want me to leave?”

“You’ve been continuously disruptive in a place that’s supposed to be quiet for studying. Since you don’t seem to care much about staying in the library, how about detention instead? Would that work for you?”

From behind them, Jennie has recovered, moving to Jisoo’s other side and cutting off both her and Lisa’s attempts to object. “I’m so sorry,” she says to the librarian, and it seems as sincere as can be. “Jisoo’s having a bad day. Please forgive her. We’ll be more respectful and I’ll try to keep her under control.”

“You’ll try to _what n_ —” Lisa grinds her heel into Jisoo’s toes before she can finish that sentence and make the situation worse, “— ow!”

The librarian looks at them with her mouth pinched into a tight line for a few more seconds, but she must really like Jennie or something because she eventually sighs and says, “Fine, go back to your seats. If you cause any more disruptions, there’ll be consequences.” Then, addressing Jennie, she indicates Jisoo with a tilt of her chin and adds, “Make sure she stays quiet.”

After that, it takes Lisa considerable effort to haul Jisoo back to their table. “Are you guys insane?” her friend demands furiously. “You’re just going to sit here and let Chaeng go through a whole period with that piece of—”

Jennie scoffs. “Calm down and think for once, will you? I know it must be difficult.”

“Hey!” Jisoo points at her aggressively. “Aren’t you supposed to be being nice to us now? Didn’t you go and make Lisa a cup of tea or something?”

Whatever Jennie was going to say doesn’t make it out of her mouth, which falls open and stays there. There’s a tint of pink in her cheeks. “You _told_ her that?”

“Of course she told me! I mean, I had to know why all her belongings weren’t on fire today. Who knows, I wasn’t expecting you to forgive her after she punched you in the face for something you didn’t even do—”

“What?” interjects Yoongi from the side.

Jisoo talks over him. “— like, that’s way worse than anything I’ve done! And I definitely did not get a cup of tea for my troubles, so what’s up with that?”

Jennie presses her lips together, silent. Lisa slumps over the table and buries her face in her arms. Yoongi looks at them both bemusedly.

“Hold on, _you’re_ the one who gave Jennie the bruise, Lisa? Not Scott? Then what was with that Instagram caption? And what about Chaeyoung, what does she have to do with it? And what’s with this cup of tea?”

“I—” Jennie takes a deep breath, then starts again. “None of that changes what I was saying. Think about it. That librarian probably would have sent you to the principal’s office, and then you’d be no help to Chaeyoung at all. Honestly, you’re so lucky I’m the class president and I have a good rep with her.”

“Oh yes, blessed be us to be in your presence,” Jisoo replies.

Equally sarcastic, Yoongi says, “I do appreciate the answers.”

“Okay, let’s move on,” Lisa cuts in. “Yoongi, you can ask Jimin about it later. Right now, we need to figure out what we’re going to do about Scott. We can’t just go barging in to their class—”

“Why not?”

“— and Jisoo, you can’t even leave the library now so don’t bother. I’m not sure… are we just going to have to wait for school to end? Because that sucks.”

“I have an idea,” says Jennie slowly. “Well, I’ve had this idea for a while— I was going to use it to get back at Lisa but— anyway, the point is, I know what we can do.”

Lisa looks at Jennie and is surprised to find her staring right back. “What?”

“Lisa, I need you to come with me,” Jennie says. “We’re going to the principal’s office. It’s the only way we can help Chaeyoung.”

Jisoo accidentally bangs her elbow into the table; Lisa winces because it must have hurt, and the librarian is scowling at them yet again, but Jisoo’s too indignant to worry about either. “But you just said—!”

Lisa heard what Jennie said, and she too has no idea what they’re doing. But this time, when Jennie turns around to look at her with one foot out the library door, it’s less of a command and more of a question. "Are you coming?"

Yeah, she trusts Jennie enough to follow her anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo. i'm not dead but this chapter is SOoOoo lame... it makes me die inside. sorry. Luckily SOLO revived me yesterday, which is when i MEANT to post this but failed haha. on a side note, do you know HOW ANNOYING ao3 formatting is with that entire instagram section. ugh.
> 
> shameless self-promo: i wasn't totally inactive this month, i do have a newer work, flying solo smth smth. you can probably guess what it's about. it's jensoo so maybe not your cup of tea, but i'd be thrilled if you guys checked it out! thank you so much as always, lots of love!


	18. sittin' on your feelings, sittin' on my throne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of similarities and differences and everything in between.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing?” Lisa yells after Jennie’s back. Wow, the girl walks quickly— must be all that running. “Hey, wait up!”

Jennie only speeds up, and for a second Lisa thinks she isn’t going to stop, just keep going faster and faster until Lisa can’t keep up anymore. But then she spins around, hair whipping over one shoulder, and abruptly slumps onto a nearby bench. “We’re doomed.”

“What?” She sits down next to Jennie, catching her breath. “What do you mean?”

“I have no plan.”

Lisa stares at her. “What? Then why are we out here?”

“Well, I _had_ a plan,” Jennie says defensively, “except I just realized it won’t work.”

“Why not? What was it?”

“I wanted to use the bruise,” she explains. “Like, the magazine, the photoshoot, all that— I could have asked them to use concealer, you know. But the photographer told me it’d cause a sensation, so I thought, why not? And then I had Nayeon send a copy to everyone and put one up on the bulletin board, even, and it did. So the plan was to come back and expose the person who actually hit me. Which is you.”

“Oh,” says Lisa.

“If you’d shown up at my house even a day later… it would have been too late. I’d have posted that and tagged _you_ instead. You were lucky.”

“Yeah,” she agrees softly, “I am.”

It’s Jennie’s turn to stare at her. That might have been a little too straightforward.

“Sorry?” Lisa backtracks a little, then sighs. “But seriously, sorry. And thank you.”

“Why do you have to be so— ugh.” She buries her face in her hands and says, muffled, “I said to stop with that. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

“Okay. Sorry.”

Jennie drops her hands and sends Lisa a dark look, but can’t quite seem to meet her eyes and within moments ends up glaring past her instead. “Anyway. What I was _going_ to do was go to the office, tell the principal that you— Scott now— hit me, and have him suspended easy as that. But that won’t work now.”

“Why not?”

“Because unlike you, Scott won’t go down that easily.”

“Oh.” Lisa does her best to keep a straight face, but she must fail because Jennie seems to notice how obviously offended she appears and grimaces.

She doesn’t apologize, though. “It’s true. If I walk in there and say, ‘Oh, Scott hit me,’ it’ll be suspicious. Because I can’t lie. And it’ll fail completely when he calls in the guy who actually can lie. Worse, we have no evidence beyond the magazine cover, which doesn’t prove anything about how I got the bruise.”

“So… what now? We sit here doing nothing?” asks Lisa incredulously.

Jennie flushes. “Hey, it was kind of stressful with Chaeyoung freaking out over the phone and Jisoo turning into the Hulk, so if you were expecting me to come up with some brilliant strategy on the spot—”

“None of us expected you to solve this problem in the first place,” Lisa points out, cutting her off.

“I— what?”

She says, candidly, “I think everyone was surprised you did anything at all.”

Jennie opens her mouth and then closes it again, disarmed. A bird chirps cheerfully, perched on a bare branch overhead, and she takes in a slow breath, looking down and picking at the peeling paint on the seat of the bench.

“I might not be, I’m not—” Her gaze shifts up to meet Lisa’s eyes, fleetingly; a sort of resignation stains it like red wine, soaks it through. “Look, even I’m not horrible enough to leave Chaeyoung to rot with him.”

Hold up. That is _so_ not what she meant; in fact, it’s entirely the opposite. To think she once accused Jennie of being conceited seems so wildly wrong in hindsight.

“Hey,” she says carefully. Her voice comes out quieter than she expected, so she leans forward to add, “You’re not. Don’t you think I know that by now?”

If Lisa wasn’t watching closely, she’d miss the startled expression before Jennie counters, “Do you?” Or how her words come off the other way around: _You do?_ — one type of disbelief shielded by another.

“Yes,” Lisa confirms, “I do.”

And that feels oddly intense, so she hastily follows up with, “What I was trying to get at was, nobody would blame you for not wanting anything to do with this whole thing after, um, yeah. Doing this for Chaeyoung… that means a lot to her. To us.”

Jennie’s surprise has faded into the background, yet no humor replaces it when she laughs dryly. “It’s not just for Chaeyoung, believe me. I’m not that selfless. It’s for me, too, I suppose. And Nayeon.”

“Nayeon!” At the mention of the cheerleader’s name, Lisa starts. “Uh, sorry for what I said about her back then. Though she already tried to kill me, so maybe that evens it out.”

“Did she?” Jennie looks faintly amused, finally. “I think she still wants to; she seemed pretty annoyed when I told her I changed my mind. I asked her to leave it alone, though, so you should be fine.”

“Great, thanks.”

“Don’t thank me just yet,” she says, dusting off her hands. Little dark chips of dried color float to the ground, where they settle into the cracks of the pavement. “I still have no plan, and every second we spend here thinking about it is another second of that creep eyeing up Chaeyoung.”

“This seems familiar, us having to separate them. Are you going tell Scott that the principal wants to meet with him again? Don’t you oversee things like that, Miss Class President?” Lisa asks jokingly.

But Jennie’s face lights up with genuine realization. “Wait. That’s not a bad idea.”

“Huh? How’d that help anything?”

She doesn’t respond at first, instead raising a hand to silence Lisa with her eyebrows creased together in a thoughtful angle. “I think…”

“I think I have an idea.”

\----

“I still don’t like this,” Lisa mutters, grim as they speed-walk across campus once again.

“Pity,” says Jennie brusquely, picking up the pace. “We don’t have time for not liking it. Did you say Lee’s history class? Room 403, then, I had him last year.”

And that’s where they arrive a minute later. Jennie’s raising her hand to knock on the door when Lisa catches it. “Jennie, wait. I don’t think—”

“No, you don’t.” The words aren’t as brutally intended as they sound. Jennie looks down at their hands; the back of hers is warm under Lisa’s palm and she makes no move to take it away. “I know what I’m doing. Can you drop it?”

So Lisa does, letting go and ducking to the left so she’s obscured from the view of the students inside. Jennie takes a deep breath, squares her shoulders, and knocks; a man with wispy grey hair opens the door.

“Jennie!” She can’t see his expression, but the teacher sounds delighted. Of course he does; like all the other teachers Jennie’s had, she’s probably one of his favorite students. “What a surprise! It’s nice to see you.” He starts to step outside, and Lisa throws her a panicked look, flattening herself against the wall.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Lee,” Jennie says, hurriedly moving into the classroom. “Sorry, I’m not here to visit. I have to take, um, Scott Brookson, to the office. The principal wants to talk to him about… an athletic program.”

 _Nice!_ Lisa thinks. That wasn’t so bad. Maybe Jennie can lie.

“That is, it’s a college recruitment. From his hometown. Of Boston.”

She suppresses a groan. _Stop talking, Jennie,_ she tries to broadcast mentally, _before you ruin it. Please._

Jennie probably can’t hear her, but lucky for them, the teacher seems more confused than suspicious. “Alright then. Scott, you’ve got a meeting— does he need his things?”

“No, no. It shouldn’t take too long.” Jennie shakes her head and uses the opportunity to gesture behind her back at Lisa in a motion that clearly means _go!_

So off she goes, sprinting around the corner of the building and regretting it all the while. This is such a _terrible_ plan, seriously, what was Lisa thinking when she agreed to it? It’s not going to work; it’ll fail for sure; something is going to go very, very wrong—

It’ll work. Jennie is right, she knows what she’s doing, but that doesn’t stop a nagging feeling of concern in Lisa's chest from telling her that something might still go very, very wrong.

Down by the field, she’d said. There’s a row of bushes lining the pathway here, little rectangular ones with prickly leaves that snag on the fabric of her clothes as she pushes her way through them. As a kid, Lisa used to love being a spy in games of pretend, but she’s never felt more stupid than now, kneeling on the dusty soil of the ground to peer through the tangle of twigs.

At least nobody’s around to see her. She picks up the phone and waits.

And there they are. Jennie and Scott approach from the direction of the classroom buildings, the latter trailing behind her typical fast-paced stride. Lisa forces some branches aside to widen her window of view but still can’t make out much of their conversation, at least until the two stop directly in front of her.

“You know, I’m not from Boston,” Scott says in a lazy drawl that makes her insides curl.

Jennie doesn’t respond. She’s facing away from where Lisa’s hidden, so there’s no way for Lisa to see, but she bets her expression was a dead giveaway because Scott lets out a sound that can hardly be called a laugh, though his amusement is plain. “So, what’s this ‘principal’s meeting’ really about?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she attempts, pointlessly.

“Come on.” He lets out a sound of disbelief, taking a step towards her. “Now you’re trying to lie? You’re not stupid enough to think that’ll work, Jennie, even if you do surround yourself with a bunch of fucking retards.”

Jennie stands her ground and says coolly, “At least I’m not alone. You wouldn't understand, but intelligence isn’t what makes a good friend.”

“What does, then?”

“A lot of things. That’s not one of them.”

“What about trust?” Scott’s reply is deft. “I thought your… experience, let’s say, with Lisa would have taught you that none of that matters when it comes down to it.”

Even as Lisa winces from the safety of the shrubs, Jennie doesn’t. “You’re missing the point.”

“Not really,” he says dismissively. “There is no point. In the end, the only person you can rely on is yourself. Not friends, not—”

“— family?” Jennie suggests. “Your mother, maybe?”

“… What the fuck.” Scott backs up a bit, and Lisa thinks it’s the first time in all these months that she’s seen him look genuinely taken aback. “How?”

“Lucky guess, but it looks like I was right.” Jennie shrugs, and she has the upper ground again. “Saw your school records— which I actually do have access to as class president— and your parental status is a single father. But your mother’s not marked as dead or divorced. Why is that?”

Scott says nothing. Lisa hardly dares to move.

Jennie didn’t tell her any of this.

All Jennie told her was, _hide there_ , and, _don’t come out until I give you the signal_.

“Did she leave your father?” she presses. “Leave you?”

“That’s a nice way of putting it,” he says. “She didn’t leave. My mother was a fucking _coward—_ couldn’t deal with her place in the family and couldn’t even put in the effort to take her thirteen-year-old son with her when she ran away.”

“And why’d she leave?”

“Take a guess. No, wait, first look at me.” Scott throws his arms out to the side. “Look at me, think about the role models I must have had to be this way, and tell me what type of man you think my father is.”

Jennie takes it in and nods, slowly. “So that’s the reason you’re so… sociopathic.”

He laughs, surprised. “Sociopathic? That’s crossing the line, don’t you think?”

“No. What you did to Nayeon, to Chaeyoung, _that’s_ crossing the line.”

Scott seems to consider this, then acquiesces with an indifferent wave of his hand. “Alright, I’m a little messed up, but that shouldn’t surprise you with my history. In fact, aren’t you a little messed up too?”

And just like that, Jennie loses the advantage as fast as she got it. The conversation is so rapid-fire that Lisa doesn’t quite catch the subtext of Scott’s question, but Jennie clearly has despite her retaliation to the contrary: “What are you implying?”

“You know what,” Scott says impatiently. “We’ve been over this. You aren’t an idiot and this isn’t a therapy session; you didn’t honestly think I’d tell you all without anything to fall back on. I did my research, too, just like you.”

(Lisa’s getting more and more nervous with each passing word, but she holds her position and waits for the elusive signal.)

“Research?” Jennie echoes blankly, before her expression darkens as the words sink in. “You shouldn’t— you didn’t— you had no right—”

“Give me a break, anyone could have found out, and it happened that I’m the first one who wanted to,” he scoffs. “You’re the one who looked through my private information, so let’s not bring in rights. Face it, you’re not as good of a person as you’d like to think.”

Jennie clenches her jaw and gets out through gritted teeth, “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me, so stop pretending like you do.”

“Maybe I don’t.” Scott shrugs. “I know enough to say this: maybe I’m fucked up but you’re no better, Jennie Kim. You fill lockers with trash and put people down and to what end? You should’ve kissed me back when you had the chance, because I’m the only one who understands that we’re more similar than you’ll ever admit, and—”

“Shut up,” Jennie seethes, temporarily drowning him out. But his voice only rises as he continues.

“— obvious, from our personalities to our pa—”

“Shut _up_!”

“— maybe Lisa realized that and decided she didn’t want anything more to do with you!”

They’re lucky to have chosen an isolated area for this confrontation, because by the time that last line finishes ringing in the air, both of them are breathing heavily from yelling.

Jennie’s fists are clenched rigidly, trembling from effort. For a second, Lisa thinks she’s going to hit him, because this situation is nearly a direct parallel of _that_ one, but she’s forgotten that Jennie is not her and that Jennie favors a different kind of attack.

“You tricked Lisa,” the other girl says tightly. “It wasn’t a decision.”

“It was her decision to believe it.”

“It _wasn’t_ —” Jennie takes a breath, clearly reining herself in, and changes the subject. “You know, for all this talk of similarities, there’s a pretty major difference between us.”

“What?”

“I’ve got my mom’s number in my phone. I talk to her daily. What about you?”

“That was below the belt,” Scott says, seemingly unfazed. “Of course I haven’t talked to her in years. She didn’t exactly leave a number before packing her bags and moving out.”

“Didn’t she?” Jennie challenges. “Or did you never try to contact her?”

“What are you trying to say?”

The tables have indeed turned. “You know what,” Jennie’s voice is deceptively light for what she says next. “You aren’t an idiot and you’ve just proved you can do research online. So why, in this day and age, have you still not tracked down your mother?”

Scott makes a brief convulsive movement with his arm, an aggressive motion that he stifles almost instantly. “I’m not the one that left.”

“Your mother has been sending the school emails every year,” Jennie says, quietly, “to update her contact information on your emergency card. I noticed when her listed number changed last month. You could have seen this any time, but you didn’t bother to check.”

“You—”

“This Sunday, it took me less than half an hour to find her Facebook page,” she talks over him, relentless. “In the last year, she’s posted a dozen times about wanting to find her son, who had already moved away with his father when she returned to their home two months after leaving.”

“You fucking bitch,” Scott hisses at her. “You’re lying.”

Jennie lifts a shoulder and lets it fall. “Check for yourself, or keep believing what you want. But you know what I believe? It’s not that you couldn’t have contacted your mother, it’s that you were too scared to and too unwilling to forgive her. You called your mother a coward, but _you’re_ the real coward here.”

Lisa has barely even finished her gasp, and Scott has Jennie cornered against the fence mere yards away from her. She’s ready to break through the bush and leap at him, signal be damned, but Jennie glances in her direction and shakes her head almost imperceptibly.

Fuck. This scenario is perfect for their plan, which could be entirely ruined if Lisa acts now. But if it means Jennie getting hurt…

Funnily enough, she gets the feeling Jennie’s less likely to forgive Lisa for saving her now than for actually hurting her like she did. So she fiddles with the phone in her hands and stays put.

“You think you’re brave then, Jennie?” Scott snarls in her face. “Then maybe I was wrong. You’re stupid after all, bringing me out here by yourself and pissing me off like this. You’re weak. What the fuck are you going to do against _me_?”

“Depends,” Jennie manages, and Lisa’s amazed that she’s still speaking with her back inches away from ten feet of fencing and nowhere to run. “You going to rape me like you did to Chaeyoung?”

Scott shoves her viciously and seizes her arm, pinning it to the metal wire. “Yeah, and maybe I’ll get all the way through this time since _you’re_ going to be too occupied to stop me.”

 _The signal_ , Lisa thinks frantically, _where is the fucking signal?_

Jennie’s attempting to extract her arm now, without much success, and Scott only tightens his grip.

Jennie winces.

 _Fuck the signal_ , Lisa thinks, and charges.

Somewhere along the way, she drops Jennie’s phone, but can’t spare it a second thought as she yanks Scott off of the shorter girl, sending him stumbling back several feet. Lisa pushes him again and, already off balance, he trips over himself and crashes to the floor.

She turns to check on Jennie, who simply waves off Lisa’s concern and moves back, leaving her to focus her attention on the football player currently sprawled across the asphalt.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Lisa shouts.

Behind her, Jennie has picked up her phone from the ground and is now using it intently. Lisa has a fair idea of what she’s doing, so she moves between the two of them to block her from Scott’s field of view.

“Oh, it’s you.” He pushes himself into a sitting position and has the gall to smirk back at her. “I gotta say, it’s a bit of a surprise to see you here.”

“Fuck off,” she growls.

“What, are you mad? That’s kind of hypocritical.” Scott gives her his familiar easy smile; newfound awareness makes it incredibly unnerving. “So basically, it’s fine for you to hit her but when anyone else touches her, you lose it. Possessive, I see.”

“That’s—” off the mark and irrelevant and doing absolutely nothing to temper the rage-driven adrenaline coursing through her “— not it. You think it’s okay to go around and pull things like that? You’re sick.”

“Haven’t faced any consequences yet, so yeah, maybe it is okay.”

“You will,” she assures him. “I’m going to make sure you will.”

“I’m so terrified!” Scott laughs up at her, at her tense figure. “What are you gonna do, punch me?”

And Lisa— Lisa wants to, Lisa very nearly does, fingers curling her hand tightly shut as she advances toward this _disgusting_ excuse for a human being. But in the next moment Jennie is there at her side, a reminder of something she never should have done and Lisa— Lisa has learned.

“Don’t,” Jennie says, and it’s no longer a necessary warning.

Scott deserves it infinitely more than Jennie did. But Lisa doesn’t want to be that type of person anymore.

She lets herself relax, tautness draining from her shoulders, and listens to Jennie as she begins speaking. The other girl has finished tapping at her screen by now and swipes to the camera roll. “You were right about one thing, Scott: I’m not an idiot. It’s over.”

Jennie holds it up so he can see and presses play.

“ _Depends._ ” Jennie’s voice stands out among the rest of the background noise coming through the speakers. “ _You going to rape me like you did to Chaeyoung?_ ”

Scott gapes, standing up slowly; he's transfixed by the video, where mini-Scott is currently forcing mini-Jennie into the fence. “You…” He trails off, speechless at last.

“ _Yeah_ ,” says mini-Scott, a one-word confession.

Lisa always did enjoy photography, filmography, capturing things on camera. And with this? She’s about to capture the king.

Checkmate.

“Wonder what the principal is going to think when he sees this,” she muses offhandedly.

Jennie looks over at her and her expression, strangely, breaks into a full-blown smile. “I wonder what the rest of the _school_ is going to think.”

“Oh,” Lisa says, remembering as she watches Jennie shut off her phone and lower her hand. “I dropped your phone earlier, sorry. It might be a bit—”

Their attention focused elsewhere, both girls fail to notice when Scott suddenly lunges towards them. Jennie recoils, but it’s too late; he grabs the phone from her hand and hurls it against the unyielding ground a meter away. Lisa can _feel_ it shatter, and it bounces once before coming to a stop.

“— scratched,” she finishes lamely.

“What a shame,” Scott jeers. “It looks like your evidence has been damaged.”

Jennie stares mutely at where it’s landed face-up, at the spidery white lines threading out from the corners and the few flecks of glass that have escaped the confines of the screen to glitter in the sun nearby.

“Jennie,” Lisa says, then a little more insistently, “Jennie, it’s fine.”

She lifts her chin slowly, like she’s coming out of a daze, then says, “You really are an idiot, Scott.”

“What?”

Jennie pivots to face him and repeats, “You’re an idiot. That accomplished absolutely nothing when the Internet exists. What did you think I was doing while you were wasting time taunting Lisa?”

“You’re bluffing,” Scott tries, fumbling for his phone anyway.

“Check for yourself,” Jennie says for the second time that day, “or keep believing what you want. But personally, I really do love Instagram. Oh, look, a notification! I’m flattered that you follow me.”

He shoves his phone furiously back into his pocket and sneers, “You _bitch_ ,” but it comes out hollow with defeat, and they all hear it.

“Lisa and I will be going now,” Jennie says, unwavering. “You can try to stop us, but I doubt it’ll make a difference. That’s already out there for everyone to see, and we’ll be showing it to the principal.”

“You and Lisa, huh? Why are you all buddy-buddy with her, anyway? That bruise doesn’t seem to have hurt enough to teach you.”

Scott points accusingly at her, and Lisa moves between them. “I apologized. Jennie accepted it.”

“Really? After everything you did.”

“People do that, you know,” Lisa says, stepping back to stand beside Jennie. “Forgive each other. Move on. Maybe it was too easy for me, but neither you or I are ever going to understand because that was her decision to make.”

She turns her head to find that Jennie is already looking straight at her, gaze intense, and she’s thrown off momentarily. “I— uh— are we done now?”

“Yes,” says Jennie, without breaking eye contact; then, as Lisa bends down to scoop up the remains of her phone, she adds, “Careful with the glass.”

They’re walking away when Scott calls after them in one final, desperate jab, “You’re going to end up like me, you know. Stuck with the people that hurt you. Like her. Like your—”

Jennie spins around and he falls silent.

“I told you, you don’t know me.” Her voice is not loud, but it carries itself firmly across the distance between them. “I’m _nothing_ like you.”

They leave him standing there, alone.

\----

“You are insane,” Lisa says as soon as they turn a corner, out of hearing range.

“I think that went pretty well, all things considered.” Jennie avoids her glare, taking the phone from her hands and turning it over, examining the cracks. “Yeah, my phone broke, but I can just use yours to play the video from Instagram. It should be enough for the principal to believe us now.”

“You could have—” She can’t believe this girl. “Why didn’t you give me the signal, Jennie?”

She plays innocent. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I _mean_ ,” Lisa says, snatching back the phone and grabbing Jennie’s right wrist with her other hand— gently, though— to push up her sleeve, “look! Look at this!”

There’s a row of discolored, finger-shaped marks on her bare skin where Scott held her.

“Why did you let this happen?” She drops Jennie’s arm and runs a hand through her hair. The shards of the phone screen are sharp on her palm, but she doesn't have the presence of mind to care. “It’s like you were waiting for him to actually rape you or something just to get it on camera.”

Jennie says nothing, looking away.

“Are you _serious_?” Lisa exclaims. “You _are_ insane!” She gestures at the blemishes on Jennie’s skin. “You’re— you’re already hurt and you would’ve been hurt worse if I had actually waited for you to give the signal. That’s not— you can’t—”

“I bruise easily,” Jennie says, shaking her sleeve back down over her arm. She finally meets Lisa’s gaze, serious. “It always looks worse than it is.”

Lisa feels like the wind has been knocked out of her. “Then—”

Jennie cuts her off, wearily, warily. “Why does it matter so much, anyway?”

“Because it does!” Lisa blurts out, then lowers her voice. “Because— because you’ve already been hurt, and that’s on me, and I’m going to regret that for the rest of my life. I don’t want it to happen again. So please, please just… take care of yourself, okay?”

Jennie blinks up at her.

“Okay,” she breathes out. A cautious inhale, then she murmurs again, “Okay.”

\----

Jennie bruises easily, but she's proved over and over again that she’s far from fragile.

Lisa wants to protect her all the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, it's an update!! chap title is up for future change because it's late and I just put smth down.
> 
> solo promotions are over :( i'm always waiting for new bp content. mmas was :((( but gayo daejun was :)))
> 
> anyway, thanks for reading as always, please leave me a comment or kudos! love you guys.


	19. my reflection in your eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thousands of raindrops, one umbrella; two girls.

They’re huddled under an old, flimsy umbrella, rain hammering the sidewalk all around them.

“Don’t stand so far out,” Lisa sighs, tugging Jennie inward with some difficulty. “You’ll get wet.”

How did they get here?

Let’s backtrack a little.

\----

“So Jisoo and I were thinking,” Chaeyoung explains to her as they enter the changing room, “that after school we’d head over to my house— since it’s closest— to study, hang out, eat, whatever. And you can come too, if you want.”

“Sure, I’m in,” says Lisa, about to ask for details when suddenly—

“I’m _so_ sorry you had to go through that.” It’s a girl in their P.E. class whose name Lisa can’t recall, walking over to them and patting Chaeyoung’s arm sympathetically. “It must have been very hard.”

Chaeyoung scowls at her back until she disappears behind a row of lockers.

“Yikes,” says Lisa. “That’s, what, the eleventh one this week?”

“Thirteenth if you count teachers,” grumbles her friend. “I’m not an _invalid_ , okay? If one more person advises me to visit the counselor or tries to tell me how pitiful I am, I’m going to lose my mind.”

“I know, I know.” She squeezes Chaeyoung’s shoulder consolingly, but it must be too reminiscent of several similar experiences the other girl’s had during the day, as a deadly glare soon intimidates Lisa into dropping her hand. “My bad, sorry.”

“I have had _enough_ ,” Chaeyoung says, slamming her locker door shut with a piercing crash, “of the ‘sorry’s! Nothing happened! Nothing! It didn’t even get that far, as they should know if they watched the entire video and, oh, I don’t know, used their brains for once?! But no, that’s too much to ask.”

Lisa ushers her towards the exit as she continues to rant, nodding along absentmindedly. Only two days have passed since Jennie posted that video, and already things have changed drastically. Scott’s been suspended— likely on his way to being expelled— for assaulting both her and Chaeyoung, but an unfortunate side effect is that now several students apparently feel obligated to express their pity.

“Even the teachers! Shouldn’t adults have more common sense than a bunch of dim-witted high school—”

Someone taps her arm from behind. “Chaeyoung, I wanted to say sorry.”

Lisa cringes as her friend spins around with murderous intent and all the force of a hurricane, ready to tear this new pitying presence open. “For the last _goddamn_ time, I—”

The words die in her throat as Jennie shrinks away.

She, of course, has also been fawned over endlessly in the past few days, perhaps even more so than Chaeyoung. The student body hadn’t even had the chance to recover from the shockwaves of the whole magazine episode before the subsequent video and scandal with Scott sent them reeling once again. Lisa overheard a couple of ninth-graders gossiping about it earlier, eyes wide with awe: “ _Did you see it?_ _Jennie Kim’s so cool, isn’t she? She’s basically a hero! I’d talk to her, but she’s too intimidating…_ ”

(Hey, _she_ was there too, Lisa thinks. Where are her fangirls? Not to sound petty or anything.)

Well, she can’t fault the freshmen for being starstruck. Jennie’s wearing that cleverly modified P.E. uniform as usual; the bruises from Monday were shallow enough to have already faded from her arms. Lisa swallows and says, “Hey.”

“Hi, Lisa.” Jennie straightens up minutely, barely looking at her. Her attention is focused more on an abashed Chaeyoung. “I couldn’t help but overhear—”

“Me raging like a lunatic over here?” Chaeyoung suggests, considerably less harsh than before.

“Yeah…” she trails off somewhat uncertainly. “Um, it wasn’t my intention to publicize the whole thing like this. The whole… affair with Scott should have stayed private. I guess I didn’t think about how people would react towards you, so, sorry.”

“Forget it,” says Chaeyoung. “You have nothing to apologize for. If anything—”

“Nothing?” Jennie’s raised eyebrow intimidates her into silence. “What about the time with the trash? Or the eggs? Or the desk graffiti? Or—”

“Fine,” Chaeyoung says quickly, grimacing at the reminders. “Fine, you did, but that’s all in the past now. I should really be thanking you for all your help recently. Especially after, uh… certain events.”

She gives Lisa a look, and the blonde ducks her head in shame.

“Thanking me,” Jennie echoes, the most peculiar countenance coming over her face.

Chaeyoung nods, then takes a quick peek at Lisa as if seeking approval. “Hey, on that note… why don’t you come over to my house after school? Lisa and Jisoo will be there.”

“Me?” Jennie steps back, surveying their surroundings as if she’s expecting some other person to jump out, correct her, and take her spot. “To do what?”

“Not much, really,” Lisa speaks up, drawing Jennie’s attention. “Just for fun. We could all get to know each other better, maybe.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Chaeyoung agrees.

“I’ll think about it,” says Jennie, scrutinizing the pair of them before addressing Chaeyoung, “but if it’s just as thanks, that’s unnecessary. I already told you we’re even. Don’t you remember?”

Before either of them can offer a response, Jennie’s badminton partner from back then (Harry? Haeri? Lisa’s got no clue…) pokes her head around the corner and calls, “Jen, you done yet? Everyone’s outside warming up already.”

“Coming,” Jennie says, and steps back. She glances quickly at Lisa. “One last thing… About those ‘certain events’… it’s okay. I’m over it.”

Then she’s out the door, leaving Chaeyoung to gape incredulously. “She’s over it? She’s over you _punching her in the face_ for something she didn’t even do? It’s been years since the Jisoo war started, and that’s still ongoing! But she’s _over it_?!”

“I guess,” Lisa says. “I don’t know either.”

“Wow.” Chaeyoung’s jaw is still hanging open. “Jennie must really have a soft spot for you.”

“For me?” she snorts. “If anything, she has a soft spot for you! She even told me, ‘Oh, Chaeyoung isn’t that bad.’ That’s, like, the equivalent of anyone else saying, ‘I love Chaeyoung and worship at her feet!’”

Chaeyoung waves a dismissive hand. “You’re exaggerating. Besides, even if she does, I doubt she’d still be saying that if I had punched her in the face. With you, well.”

“I don’t know. I still can’t believe I did that.” Lisa lets out a prolonged sigh. “And I was so _wrong_ , too.”

Her friend nods along pityingly. “It’s okay. It was a fair— well, no, it wasn’t a fair assumption, but I can see why you thought what you did.” Chaeyoung pats her on the back, then steers her towards the door.  “And we all make mistakes, right? Let’s hope she decides to come over so we can smooth things out.”

Lisa doesn’t know about that. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but there’s a difference between, like, forgetting your keys at home and assaulting someone under false pretenses. As they’re walking out of the locker room, she wonders aloud, “By the way, what was Jennie talking about? You guys being even?”

“Oh, that. She told me that right after It happened, too… she probably still felt bad.”

Lisa gets the feeling that Chaeyoung isn’t telling her everything, but she doesn’t push for details. Outside, the sky is a ruined mess of grey, an inexperienced pencil sketch that’s been erased so many times that it’s smudged all over the paper.

In other words: “It looks like it’s going to rain,” she says.

Chaeyoung studies the dreary atmosphere and hums in agreement. “Fun. I’m walking home today too, so thank God I brought an umbrella.”

Lisa smiles. “Same here. My mom stuffed one into my bag right before I left.”

Everyone else is already lined up on the tracks, and she and Chaeyoung join them, making their way to the outermost lane. A few feet away, Jennie is glowering at the sky like it’s personally offended her. Lisa takes a few steps towards her, hoping to start up a conversation, but she’s thwarted by the coach, who addresses all of them when he shouts, “Listen up!”

They spend the rest of the period running laps, and she doesn’t find another opportunity to talk to Jennie until later, before English, when she gets to class early. Jennie looks up as Lisa approaches the little desk they share and says, “Hi.”

“Hey,” Lisa says, unable to pretend she’s entirely unsurprised. Jennie usually acknowledges her arrival with a mere inclination of her head; or, during the rough patches, leaned as far away as she could and stared coldly ahead. “How are you?”

Jennie fidgets, shifts a little in her seat. “Good. Thanks. You?”

“I am too.” The words sound bland and lame on her tongue, so she tries to expand by adding, “Good.”

Jennie nods, then breaks eye contact. The silence grows lengthy, moving from uncomfortable all the way to unbearable, and… look, Lisa isn’t an awkward person. She isn’t so introverted that she’s incapable of communication, so this is about when she realizes: she and Jennie have had so few occasions to simply _talk_ to each other and have a casual conversation that Lisa’s not even sure they know how to.

Well, now is as good a time to start as any. Lisa opens her mouth and says, “So, you—” at the exact same time Jennie speaks up out of nowhere, “Um, I—” and they end up staring at each other mutely again.

Jennie bites her lip, “Sorry, what were—” just as Lisa hastens to say, “You go first.”

Rather than doing so, Jennie immediately snaps her mouth shut, a thorough flush spreading across her cheeks, and Lisa can’t help it: she starts to laugh. This is so utterly _ridiculous_. They can cry to each other over tea (well, Lisa mostly) and plan secret spy missions without batting an eyelash, but they can’t even do this? She tries to pull herself together by grabbing her water bottle and taking a sip, but as soon as she takes one more peek at Jennie’s flabbergasted reaction, she nearly spits it out all over the desk.

“I’m sorry, I don’t—” Jennie’s observing her like she’s some alien specimen or simply insane and she doesn’t, “—know what’s wrong with me, really, this shouldn’t be so funny, but I do mean it, please— feel free to— to say whatever you were going to.”

Jennie watches her gasp for air a little while longer until her laughter hiccups to a close, then says patiently, “It’s fine. I forgot.”

Lisa takes one last deep breath, finally collecting herself. “Okay then… So, I was going to ask, you doing anything today? Any modeling gigs?”

“Um,” Jennie says, undoubtedly bewildered by Lisa’s mood changes, “no.” Then there’s a span of hesitation before she straightens up, visibly steeling herself, and says, “What about you?”

Hey, at least they’re getting somewhere now. “Well, you already know I’m going over to Chaeyoung’s place with her and Jisoo after school.”

“Yeah, that sounds nice,” Jennie says quietly, an expression coming over her face that is so foreign on her and so intensely wistful that Lisa feels a near-painful wrench of compassion in her chest.

It compels her to ask, “So, have you thought about it? It’d be great if you could come.”

Jennie averts her gaze too quickly. “I don’t think if it’s a good idea. Wouldn’t Jisoo disapprove?”

“Nah, I doubt it,” Lisa says. “We could always ask her later, though.”

“You do that.” Jennie seems quite assured that Jisoo will refuse, but Lisa is certain of the opposite. Even Jisoo had admitted that she couldn’t hate Jennie after everything the other girl had done— who could? She’ll probably act reluctant, but Lisa thinks she secretly wouldn’t mind.

Lisa loses Jennie in the hallway after the bell rings as usual— they never walk to the library together, despite having the same previous period; it’s probably because both meet up with their respective friend groups before heading off. So when she arrives at the library, only Jisoo is already seated at their usual table. They’ve only just struck up some idle conversation about the upcoming test in math when Yoongi joins them, sliding into his seat with an unusually pleased air about him and prompting Jisoo to ask rather suspiciously, “What’s got you all chipper?”

“I’m offended by how skeptical you sound,” says Yoongi, but he’s still smiling and that unnerves Lisa for no reason other than its rarity. “Can’t a guy be happy?”

“A _guy_ can,” Jisoo says, clearly as disturbed as she is. “Not a demon.”

Lisa stifles a laugh and Yoongi turns to her, rolling his eyes good-naturedly. “I’ll only talk to you then, since it’s impossible to hold an intelligent conversation with that one. Look! It’s raining!”

She obeys, glancing towards the nearby window, and her prediction from earlier has indeed come to pass. Though it’s too light of a drizzle to actually see, the panes of glass are decorated with sparse droplets.

“Of course that’s why you’re happy,” Jisoo grumbles, “delighting in other people's misery. Looks like soccer practice is cancelled today. And I don’t have an umbrella.”

Yoongi shrugs indifferently. “Not walking home, so not my problem.”

“ _Excuse_ you—!”

“ _Jisoo_ ,” Lisa says warningly, “let’s not. You’ll get kicked out of the library again. Besides, aren’t we walking to Chaeyoung’s house together? You two can share an umbrella.”

“Sharing an umbrella?” Jennie echoes as she slips into the final seat at their four-person table, having overheard Lisa’s last few words. “That sounds rather romantic.”

“Hey, what are you trying to insinuate?” says Jisoo. “There’s nothing going on between Chaeng and I!”

“I didn’t even know she was talking about you and Chaeyoung,” Jennie points out fairly reasonably— though Lisa knows this is false; after all, Jennie already knows about Jisoo and Chaeyoung’s plans for the afternoon, so she probably could’ve assumed who the umbrella-sharers in question were, “but sure, if you say so. I know you’re sensitive about your absolutely massive and non-existent crush on her.”

“My _what_?!” Jisoo yelps, then covers her mouth with one hand.

“Your absolutely massive and non-existent crush,” says Jennie again, ever-helpful, and just in case that wasn’t explicit enough, clarifies, “on Chaeyoung.”

Well, although Lisa thinks that Jisoo and Jennie should hurry up and start moving past their mutual antagonism, she can’t deny her own amusement at Jennie’s familiar display of getting on Jisoo’s nerves.

Who, by the way, is now sputtering, “You-you can’t just _say_ that. There are people here!”

She jerks her head rather indiscreetly at Yoongi, whose jaw drops dramatically as he exclaims, “Wait, Jisoo, you have a crush on Chaeyoung? This is shocking! Who could have guessed? Certainly not me. Or Lisa. Or half the school.”

Jisoo nearly falls out of her chair. “I- what- you—”

“Eloquent,” Jennie deadpans.

“And before you try to deny it,” Yoongi adds, “don’t.”

Jisoo buries her face in her arms, then dares to tilt her head slightly, peek out, and ask, “How did _all_ of you know? I can understand Lisa, because I straight-up told her, but I definitely wouldn’t have told either of _you_ two if you held me down and tried to beat it out of me. And I don’t think I’ve been that obvious.”

All three of them stare at her, judgement coming across loud and clear even in their silence, and Jisoo promptly shoves her head back down. “Does _everyone_ really know?” comes out muffled.

Lisa takes pity and before Jennie or Yoongi can answer with a snarky remark, reassures her friend, “It’s okay, Jisoo, look on the bright side! Everyone _but_ Chaeng knows.”

“That’s not a bright side,” Jennie says in an impassive tone, making Jisoo sit up and look at her oddly. “Look how well it turned out when she didn’t know and made the utterly brilliant decision to date Scott.”

Well, it seems like Jennie is struggling with tactful speaking today, and Lisa knows that she didn’t mean it how it sounded, so she makes the wise choice to change the subject before Jisoo can get offended on Chaeyoung’s behalf. “Earlier, Jisoo and I were talking about the math test this Friday.”

“Yeah, we were. What about it?” As she had intended, Jisoo turns her attention to Lisa, distracted by the out-of place interjection.

“Just curious,” says Lisa. “Are you guys still doing that tutoring thing?”

Jisoo looks to Jennie, who appears to have tuned them out. “I don’t know, are we?”

“Hm?” Jennie turns back from where she’d been gazing out the window, allowing Lisa to catch the briefest glimpse of the unhappy expression she’d seen earlier in P.E. before it’s quickly wiped away. “Are we what?”

“Tutoring.”

“Oh. If you want, I guess.”

Well, that’s the end of that, Lisa supposes. Jisoo might not hate her anymore, but there’s simply _no_ way Jisoo would want to continue these lessons that have been causing her so much grief, from the girl she probably considers the most annoying in the world, so—

“Then let’s continue,” says Jisoo, much to everyone’s surprise. “What? She’s smart! It’s helpful.”

“She’s _smart_? If I recall correctly, you said,” Yoongi clears his throat and does a very poor, high-pitched impression of what is evidently meant to be Jisoo, “ _Pretty little model whose moth—_ ”

“Okay, now that is just unnecessary,” Jisoo says indignantly. “First of all, I don’t sound like that, and second, Jennie and I have moved past those unimportant events—”

“We have?” Jennie sounds both confused and intrigued.

“Look,” Jisoo says, rotating in her chair away from Yoongi to face her, “you are irritating and rude and offensive and mean and stuck-up and bitchy and—”

“Jisoo,” Lisa watches the danger signs flash in Jennie’s eyes, “maybe, uh, shorten it a little?”

“—not-cool in general, but… sometimes, I must admit, you are very cool.”

“Huh,” Jennie says.

Jisoo sets her jaw. “You know, before the ‘most-moronic-question-I’ve-ever-been-asked’ incident, Chaeyoung and I thought you weren’t so bad. And that’s what I think now, too.”

“Huh,” Jennie says.

“This is not an apology!” Jisoo twirls her pencil in her hand then points it at Jennie like a wand. “Not until you apologize too. But the thing with Scott? That was pretty fucking awesome. Seriously. And I haven’t really thanked you for it, and I’m not planning to because that’s hella awkward, but yeah.”

Jennie still seems incredibly thrown off guard. “Okay, well, um… sure. Thanks. You’re welcome. Wait, no, I meant—”

“I feel like I’m witnessing the end of World War III,” Yoongi mutters to Lisa, except loudly enough that the other two can easily hear it. Lisa has to agree. It feels a lot like Jennie and Jisoo are having the Moment she’d sort-of predicted: to remove the euphemisms, that after this they might stop trying to commit murder every time they’re within five feet of each other.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Jisoo says with emphasis, “we should get started. Because I have no idea how to integrate this, and I think the entire unit test is on trig integrals, so.”

“Okay,” Jennie says, and the two of them huddle over Jisoo’s math homework, leaving Yoongi and Lisa to trade a stunned glance.

“Did that just happen?” Lisa asks him, to which she receives only a shrug.

There’s less than a minute left of the period when the gloomy drizzle outside finally transitions into a full-blown downpour, raindrops hitting hard enough against the pavement to make Jennie glance up from whatever problem she’d been explaining to Jisoo and frown _again,_  prompting Lisa to ask: “What’s up?”

“What? Oh, nothing,” Jennie says rather unconvincingly, right as the bell rings. Around them, students shove their things into backpacks and stream out of the library. Jisoo and Yoongi stay in their seats.

“Do you not like the rain?” she asks, curious.

Jennie shakes her head. “The rain is fine. I just don’t like getting wet.”

“Oh. That’s understandable,” says Lisa, and uses the opportunity to segue into another round of convincing. “Well, if you don’t like getting wet, Chaeyoung’s house is awfully close by. So if you walk with us, since we’ve basically established that Jisoo won’t min—”

She’s interrupted by an abrupt and loud, “Oho!” from Jisoo. “So _this_ is the real reason you were happy.”

Lisa turns around to find a pink-cheeked Jimin standing by Yoongi’s chair as the latter packs away his binders and homework. “Thank you _so much_ for that, Jisoo. Hi, Lisa; oh bye, Jennie; feel free to forget you saw me, I’m just here to pick up Yoongi for some stuff we have after school—”

“Definitely remembering I saw you here forever,” Jisoo smirks. “What is this ‘stuff’ I’m hearing about?”

“Not your business, Jisoo,” Yoongi says, standing up from his seat and pushing his chair in. “Jimin-ah, let’s go. We’ll see you guys tomorrow then.”

They head out, and Lisa watches as Yoongi wraps an arm around Jimin’s shoulders, Jimin whispering something to Yoongi that makes him laugh, while Jisoo shouts after them, “Jimin-ah? _Jimin-ah_?!”

“Interesting,” she says, “So are you coming, Je—” She turns around to find Jisoo the only one sitting at the table, giving her a curious look. Jennie’s chair is empty.

“Guess that’s a no. She just left,” says her friend. “Did you miss the, ‘bye, Jennie,” from _Jimin-ah_?”

Lisa definitely missed it. “I don’t get it,” she grouses to Jisoo as they leave the library, undoing the velcro strap of her umbrella to unfurl it over the both of them. “She said she’s not doing anything, so why won’t she just come along?”

“You know what _I_ don’t understand?” Jisoo says slowly. “Why do you want her to come so much?”

“What! Chaeyoung wants her to come too. And you, hopefully.”

“I guess I wouldn’t mind,” Jisoo admits reluctantly, “but neither of us are as… insistent about it as you are. Also, this umbrella sucks.”

“Geez, sorry.” Lisa shifts it to her other hand and examines the umbrella in question. Indeed, it’s quite beat up; though there aren’t yet any holes that threaten to leak on them, the metal frame is decidedly bending under the battering of rainwater and wind. Her mom probably didn’t look before choosing one. “It’s better than nothing. And I’m not _that_ insistent, I just feel like she—”

“Oh, speak of the devil; would you look at that,” says Jisoo dryly just as they pass the gates of the school, jerking her head in the direction of the traffic light junction that leads out of their campus. “Someone’s probably in for a long walk.”

Lisa follows her movement and her gaze lands on a familiar figure clad in a black Chanel jacket, notably lacking an umbrella unlike the few other students standing there. Jennie’s positioned just so that the sheets of rain, which come down at a slanted angle because of the wind, are somewhat blocked by the lamppost she’s leaning against. The sparse crowd surrounding her, all waiting for the traffic signal to turn green, must either not be Jennie’s friends or not recognize her, because nobody offers to share their umbrella.

The second possibility is valid to an extent, because Jennie is currently tugging her hood sharply over her face— Lisa didn’t even know high-fashion brands like Chanel had jackets with hoods, but apparently they do— in a fit of frustration and clear demonstration of how ineffective her attempt of avoiding the rain is. Lisa winces: the jacket must be expensive and it’ll probably be ruined if Jennie walks home in the rain like this. Her house is at least a mile or two away. Not that Lisa has the address memorized or anything.

Besides, Jennie doesn’t like getting wet.

She’s turning to Jisoo with a question on her lips, but her friend already has an answer ready and complete with an exasperated wave of her hand. “Go ahead, walk her home. Don’t worry about me, I’ll just head back to the office and wait for Chaeyoung there.”

“Okay,” Lisa says, grateful for Jisoo’s quick understanding— even if she doesn’t really understand Lisa’s “insistence” on involving herself with Jennie.

She escorts Jisoo to the building (she isn’t so lame of a friend as to simply ditch her) before spinning on her heel, eyes widening when she sees that Jennie is already halfway across the street with the rest of the group. Lisa sprints towards the crossing, a task made rather difficult by the aerodynamically unfavorable umbrella she has to drag along, and manages to make it to the other side of the road just as the signal changes from a flashing warning to a forbidding red hand.

A bit risky. But worth it, because now Jennie’s just a few meters ahead of her. Lisa slows to a brisk walk for the remainder of the distance, careful to avoid the puddles pooling in dips of the pavement, and finally reaches out a hand to tap Jennie on the shoulder.

Jennie whirls around so fast that Lisa nearly drops her umbrella. Fortunately for her relatively-dry shirt, she doesn’t react so extremely, but she is startled enough to trip backwards, slipping on the wet concrete.

Almost instinctively, Jennie catches her arm to steady her. “Oh, it’s you,” she says, in a tone that Lisa isn’t sure whether to consider good or bad. “What is it?”

“I- uh- well- you,” Lisa isn’t able to form coherent sentences for some reason.

Jennie stares at her, clearly perplexed. Then she looks down at her own hand, blinks once in surprise, and lets go of Lisa instantly. “If you’re here to try and convince me to come with you to Chaeyoung’s house, you’ve wasted your time. I’m not going.”

“Actually, I was only planning to walk you home,” says Lisa, moving so that the umbrella is centered between the two of them, “but since you brought it up… why not?”

Jennie narrows her eyes, likely suspicious of her motives, and accelerates without warning. Lisa is forced to take longer strides to keep up, stretching out her arm to maintain the cover of the umbrella over Jennie. “Hey, where are you going?”

“Away,” Jennie answers bluntly, then stops as suddenly as she sped up, visibly disoriented.

Lisa gets it. She’s experiencing it too, this sense of _déjà vu_. Months have passed, but Lisa remembers every detail in striking clarity: a sky sweeter than candy, two shadows stretched to their breaking point, eight miles till home. Her own voice, floating across still air: _Come with us_.

Jennie.

Today the sky is void of the colorful hues from that sunset, and there’s a muted sense of exhaustion clinging to everything the rain touches. So it takes much less time for Jennie to concede, stepping back under the protection of the umbrella with a short exhale and hugging her arms to her chest. Except she’s still standing over a foot away from Lisa like there’s magnetic repulsion between them or something.

“Don’t stand so far out,” Lisa sighs, tugging Jennie inward with some difficulty. “You’ll get wet.”

Jennie’s jacket, as Lisa had predicted, is entirely soaked through, and she doesn’t quite make eye contact. “Sorry. Thanks.”

“It’s fine, no problem.” They continue their walk, and Lisa prompts, “So… Chaeyoung’s house is right over here if we turn now, but I’m guessing you don’t want to. But why?”

“Lisa,” Jennie says her name flatly, “you haven’t been at this school long enough to know how many people ask me to go places and do things. There was a time when every other week was this person’s birthday party or that person’s study group. By now I’ve stopped going to all of them.”

“Oh, yeah,” Lisa thinks back to what Jisoo had told her. “I’ve heard you were popular for group projects, up until you, uh, weren’t anymore. But you went to Jimin’s party, didn’t you?”

Jennie grimaces at the reminder. “Only because he was the one asking. And Nayeon was going to be there, too. Personally, though, I’d rather not repeat the experience.”

“Sorry,” Lisa says.

“Yes, well… you mentioned the group projects. Those were not fun for me at all. The point is, besides them two— Jimin and Nayeon, I mean— basically everything is out of insincerity.”

“Wait,” says Lisa, slightly affronted. “We’re not being—”

“I didn’t mean you guys specifically,” Jennie cuts her off, probably having anticipated this response. She sweeps her gaze up the handle of the umbrella to its canopy. “I can tell that you are mostly genuine.”

“Well, that’s good.” Lisa is pretty surprised Jennie’s taking this so well, the whole escorting-her-home thing. She half-expected Jennie to glare at her until she left, but hey, she’s not about to complain.

“And I realize now that even Jisoo was being sincere when she asked that question. It _was_ pretty dumb, but it probably didn’t warrant ‘most moronic question I’ve ever heard.’ I was having a bad day.”

“Oh.” Lisa is unsure how to process all this information.

Jennie glances at her out of the corner of her eye. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

She laughs a little. “I won’t. If you think we’re sincere though, what’s the problem?”

“I know you’re not trying to _gain_ something from me,” Jennie says, and honestly, it makes Lisa a bit sad that she has to screen people like that. “But I’d also rather not be invited out of pity or, like, guilt. I know you guys still feel bad about what happened at the party.”

Lisa’s silent for a long, long while. They reach the end of the block and turn right, unfortunately head-on against the direction of the wind, forcing Lisa to lower the umbrella in front of them to better block the rain. As she does so, a car happens to pass by with impeccable timing, tires skidding in a puddle on the corner of the junction, and the next second Lisa’s spitting out dirty rainwater. “What the hell.”

Jennie glances over at her and immediately brings a hand up to her mouth, stifling a chuckle. “Sorry. It’s just… your-your face has—” She drops her hand and surrenders, breaking into outright laughter. It might be relatively contained, but Lisa can tell this is the _realest_ she’s ever witnessed— not taunting, not humorless, not cynical: Jennie’s eyes crinkle up at the corners, the right slightly more than the left; her smile is just wide enough to reveal the upper row of perfect teeth and a hint of pink gums above.

Lisa raises her own hand to her cheek and feels the cool spattering of muddy droplets there, and beneath it the spreading heat of a blush. Fuck.

She almost doesn’t want to wipe it off.

But she ends up dragging her palm across the side of her face anyway, drying her hand on the fabric of her jeans. “How lovely. Rainwater is my favorite moisturizer.”

Jennie has composed herself by then, but Lisa can tell that nearly sets her off again. Instead, she bites back her amusement and says, “Yes, it suits you.”

Lisa’s the one to laugh this time. “Is that because I still look like a garbage bag?”

“Oh, no, not that,” Jennie sounds mortified. “I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what came over me. Was all that really over _Pachinko_?”

“Yep,” Lisa confirms, and goes on to mimic, slightly nervous she’s stepping over a line, “ _If I ask for three copies, that’s what I need. If I tell you to return a book to the library, that’s what you_ —”

Jennie, understandably, stops her there. “That was a brilliant imitation, Lisa, thank you.”

“I know,” says Lisa, unreasonably proud despite the obvious sarcasm in Jennie’s voice. “If you don’t mind me asking, though, why _did_ you get so upset? Looking back it seems kinda out of character.”

“Maybe your opinion of my character is just too optimistic,” Jennie suggests, and Lisa can detect no sarcasm in that statement.

“No, I don’t think so,” Lisa says casually, briefly attempting to balance the umbrella’s handle upright on her palm before quickly discovering how bad of an idea it is and giving up.

“Hm.” Jennie kicks at a pebble as they pass by and it goes skittering into the bushes. “Actually, you were right. I _didn’t_ need three copies. It was more about… well. First of all, I didn’t know that you and Yoongi had decided together for only him to return it. So I thought you were deliberately keeping it out of spite.”

“I see.” Lisa doesn’t really see because she has another question. “Why not get it from a public library?”

Jennie’s eyebrows furrow as if the idea hadn’t even occurred to her. “… I don’t have a card.”

“You could just get one.”

“I’m still a minor, so I’d need a parent, I think…” Lisa’s about to interrupt, not seeing the problem there, but then Jennie goes on, “and I’d have to walk.”

Lisa isn’t sure why, but she senses that it would be the wrong move to ask Jennie why her mom never seems available to drive her anywhere. She simply asks, “So when will you not be a minor?”

“You mean my birthday? January. 16th.”

“Wait, you’re older than me?” Lisa exclaims.

“If your birthday is after January, then yes,” says Jennie, straight-faced. “That seems obvious.”

“March 27th,” Lisa informs. “But you’re so… short.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“That’s pretty soon then.” Lisa decides it’s wiser not to poke too much fun at Jennie’s diminutive stature. “Basically right after winter break.”

As she speaks, Jennie slows her pace before coming to a complete halt, causing Lisa to scan their location in confusion. This surely isn’t Jennie’s street yet, so what are they stopping for? As if she’s read Lisa’s mind, Jennie tells her, “Wait a second. I have to go do something.”

Not much of an explanation, Lisa muses as Jennie proceeds to duck out from under the umbrella and off the side of the sidewalk, where there’s a small area that’s sectioned off by a fence and overgrown with shrubs. Lisa can’t see exactly what she’s doing, but there’s a lot of rustling noises and when Jennie finally emerges, she’s holding in her arms a—

“Dog,” Lisa says, always a woman of many words.

“Kuma,” Jennie corrects, lifting up the dog’s— no, Kuma’s paw. “Say hi.”

Kuma barks at the same time that Lisa obediently says, “Hi,” before feeling extremely stupid.

Jennie’s dog manages to look as expensive as the rest of her, despite having somewhat-shaggy fur that’s half-covered with leaves and twigs. Plus, like his owner, Kuma is currently very wet due to the rain.

“He’s not actually my dog,” Jennie explains to Lisa once they’ve picked up their trek. “I don’t know if he’s a stray or if his owners don’t care about him at all… so this might be stealing… but he sits there every day when I walk home. So I took him for a night and left a note here, but nobody even touched it.”

Lisa watches her scratch behind Kuma’s ears lightly before moving to pick out a branch that had tangled in his fur. She’s never seen Jennie so… soft. “You must really like dogs.”

“They’re cute. And easier to be around than humans.” Jennie lifts Kuma up to her face and says, “Right, Kuma? You never want anything from me. Other than food.”

That’s kind of really cute, if Lisa’s being honest, cuter than the dog in her opinion. But then again, “I’m more of a cat person.”

Jennie wrinkles her nose. “Of course you are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Nothing.”

Lisa grumbles a bit but decides to let it go. “Wanna hear something funny? Yesterday I was walking to class and I passed a bunch of little kids— freshmen, I mean— who were apparently your big admirers.”

“That’s not funny,” Jennie says, “or unusual at that school. I have lots of admirers.”

She holds up both her hands. “Woah, no need to brag.”

“I’m not _bragging,_ ” Jennie objects sharply, features tightening. “It’s true.”

“I’m joking,” Lisa reassures, reaching over to pat Kuma on the head as Jennie relaxes. She’s gradually learning how to deal with this: how easy it is to say the wrong thing and put Jennie on edge. “You do have lots of admirers. But the interesting part was that they were all like, ‘ _Oh my god, she’s such a hero_!”

“Never mind,” Jennie says. “That _is_ funny.”

“What, you don’t think it’s true?” Lisa moves the umbrella handle forward a little so she can see Jennie’s face better. “You’re bringing home a stray dog. Seems like an accurate judgement to me.”

“A hero?” Jennie looks up at her, taken aback. “Of course not. Have you forgotten what we were discussing, like, two minutes ago?”

“The whole mess with _Pachinko_? No, I haven’t forgotten, but have _you_ forgotten what we were discussing, like, an hour ago with Jisoo? Because let me remind you about the whole Scott thing. If that doesn’t qualify as heroic—”

“I haven’t forgotten either,” Jennie says quietly. “I amend my previous statement then. You clearly haven’t forgotten, but what’s the saying… forgive and forget? You do one of those too easily.”

“Says the girl who made me tea after I punched her in the face.”

Jennie lets out a laugh that sounds like Lisa’s surprised it out of her. “Fair point, but you’re neglecting to consider a lot of context in that situation. Context that didn’t exist with _Pachinko_. I didn’t even _know_ you and I didn’t stop to consider that.”

“Went down with the sinking ship that is Kim Jisoo,” Lisa sighs dramatically, then turns serious. “You already apologized for this. Sufficiently. Excessively sufficiently.”

“So did you,” Jennie retorts. “This isn’t the point. If anyone here— not me— is a hero, it’s—” She breaks off and looks back down at Kuma. “Never mind.”

Lisa misses this interesting comment mainly because her umbrella chooses this moment to crumple in on itself, turning inside-out in the face of the increasing intensity of wind and rain. “Shit,” she curses.

“I think I knew this was coming as soon as I looked at your umbrella, Lisa,” Jennie says dryly, except not dryly because they’re being pelted in the face and everywhere else by raindrops. She watches Lisa swing her backpack around to the front and shove the umbrella in unceremoniously, then yelps, “Hey!”

The yelp is probably because Lisa has grabbed hold of her arm and is now dragging her down the block, running as fast as she can. “I thought you didn’t like getting wet!”

“Blrgblrblgr,” says Jennie through the rain. (It’s probably not actually what she says, but it’s all Lisa can make out.) In a seeming attempt at retaliation for Lisa nearly yanking her off balance earlier, she pulls her sleeve from Lisa’s grip and starts to sprint even faster than the taller girl had been.

Fine. Two can play at that game. “If you remember, I outran you last time!” Lisa shouts after her, but she evidently doesn’t spend as much time jogging as Jennie does, because _fuck_ her cardio is bad. Without anger as her fuel, Jennie’s outrunning her— even though she’s carrying a dog. Humiliating. She’s right about to give up the chase when Jennie screeches to a halt at the end of the street, stepping onto the porch of what Lisa recognizes to be her house.

“Where were you? I thought you got lost back there.” Now that they’re sheltered from the rain, Lisa can hear the loftiness loud and clear in Jennie’s voice, as well as see the smug smile plastered across her face.

“Oh, shut up.”

Jennie lowers Kuma to the ground and takes off her backpack to get her keys, making a face when she finds its material to be damp to the touch. Lisa stands back as she unlocks the door, prepared to leave as soon as Jennie's safely inside, when the other girl stops with one hand on the doorknob and says without turning around, “Want to come in?”

\----

“Your room is very neat,” Lisa says, and it is. Everything is so… perfectly put away. It almost makes her uncomfortable, combined with the bland white of the walls and the lack of any personal decorations. In fact, she wouldn’t even know anybody was living here if not for the absence of dust on the bed sheets.

“Hm?” Jennie says from where she’s rummaging through the bottom drawer of her cabinet. “Oh. Yes, I suppose so.” She pulls out a bag of dog food, and there are several questions Lisa has about that action.

The only thing not-neat about the room is Kuma, who is currently shedding all over the hardwood floor. “Why do you keep his food up here?” Her house does have a kitchen, after all, Lisa’s been in it and they passed it on their way up; Jennie’d run her finger over the side of the kettle and glanced back at Lisa with a strange sort of half-smile, to which she’d simply replied, “ _No thanks, I’m not in the crying mood today._ ”

“My mom doesn’t know about him, so I have to hide it.” Jennie takes a tissue and sets it on the ground before pouring out a sizeable amount of kibbles. “Kuma! Kuma, here you go.”

While Kuma devours his dinner loudly, Lisa crouches down and examines one of the long strands of hair he’s left behind. “Won’t she be a little suspicious? Because your hair looks nothing like this.”

“Thank God it doesn’t,” Jennie says. “I’ll clean it up before she gets home.”

“Which is… when?”

“Later,” Jennie answers extremely specifically, peeling off her likely-ruined Chanel jacket to reveal a white long-sleeved shirt. “You should change out of that.” She indicates Lisa’s own jacket, which also happens to be dripping dirty water onto Jennie’s pristine floor.

“Yeah, sorry.” Lisa dusts the hair off her hands before glancing at her and promptly tearing her gaze away.

“What?”

“Your shirt… it’s white.”

“What about it?” Jennie looks down at herself. “ _Oh_ , you mean it’s see-through because it’s wet. Lisa, I’m wearing a bra and we literally change in the same room for P.E. every day.”

“But there’s other people in there and I’m not this close!”

Jennie rolls her eyes. “I’m a _model_ , Lisa. I parade around people half-naked for a living. I hardly care.”

“Well, I do!” Lisa says indignantly. “And you being a model doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be afforded some basic respect as a human being and a woman!”

“Alright, Miss Feminism.” There’s some swishing sounds that Lisa assumes is Jennie getting changed, followed by, “You’re all clear.”

Lisa looks back up only to find Jennie wearing nothing but her bra and a smirk. “What the hell!”

“Something wrong?”

“Something’s very wrong! Put on some clothes, would you?!”

“Okay, okay, jeez,” Jennie is trying not to laugh, Lisa can _hear_ it in her voice. Even Kuma yaps at her feet like he too finds this funny. “You’re good for real now.”

Lisa peeks through her fingers to verify that Jennie actually has a goddamn shirt on this time, and lowers her hands once she’s confirmed that yes, she won’t have to worry about catching another glimpse of that incredibly fit waist or toned stomach— what the _hell_!

“—this one,” Jennie is saying. Shoot, Lisa'd completely missed whatever she’d been talking about. Luckily for her, Jennie repeats, holding up a very high-class-looking coat and asking, “Do you want to change into this? If it’s too small, I can find another one.”

Lisa tries to keep her voice very, very even when she replies, “No, it looks fine, just really really expensive. Are you sure you want me to borrow that?”

“I’m literally sponsored by Chanel,” Jennie says. To emphasize her point, she stands up and walks over to a nearby door, opening it to reveal a closet lined with at least a dozen jackets, coats, robes, and more— all bearing the same Chanel logo as the one she’s holding. She shuts the door and sits back down, arching an unaffected eyebrow at Lisa’s impressed expression. “Keep it. God, burn it for all I care, because I really don’t. Consider it your thanks.”

“There is no way I’m taking this permanently,” Lisa maintains firmly as she shrugs it on, “and you don’t need to _thank_ me. I couldn’t let you walk home without an umbrella.”

Jennie pauses the rhythmic motion of her fingers through Kuma’s fur. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

Jennie meets her gaze dead-on. “Act like everyone would do what you do— take me to the movies when we barely knew each other, wait outside my door just for an apology, walk me home in the rain. When almost _nobody_ would.”

“I don’t- I don’t do that,” Lisa protests, even as her mind flashes back to multiple examples of her doing exactly that. “Do you really think other people wouldn’t do the same?”

“I don’t think, I know,” Jennie mutters darkly.

Lisa’s not going to ask. “Well, in that case… I don’t know.”

“I think I do.” Lisa waits patiently, but Jennie doesn’t elaborate, resuming her petting instead.

Lisa checks her phone for the time; on her lock screen, a text awaits.

 

 **Jisoo [15:34]** **  
** are you still coming

 **Jisoo [15:37]** **  
** feel free not to chaeng and i are having a gr8 time

 

“You know,” Lisa says, clicking it off, “if you want to thank me so much, there’s another way.”

Jennie notices the phone in her hand and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. “Look, I do want to thank you, but I already told you why I don’t want to go to Chaeyoung’s hou—”

“It’s not pity if I want you to be there,” Lisa says swiftly, heartbeat equally as quick.

Jennie freezes. “What?”

“I said,” Lisa swallows down nerves whose presence she doesn’t want to contemplate for too long, “it isn’t pity or guilt if I want to spend time with you, is it?”

“Why would you want to spend time with _me_?" Jennie asks, and there’s no bitterness or wariness in the question, only a honest, open curiosity.

“Did you have fun today?” Lisa asks her in place of an answer; remembers a laugh she'd never heard before this afternoon, a sprint through the rain, a missing shirt replaced by a smile.

“I don't understand—”

“Did you?”

Jennie hesitates, but it’s no use: Lisa will have her answer. “Yes. Yes, I did.”

“So did I,” Lisa confesses. “So why _wouldn't_ I want to spend time with you?”

Jennie’s lips are parted slightly, neither words nor breath escape. Lisa gets to her feet, holds out one hand in a silent offer: _Are you coming?_

Jennie takes her hand off Kuma. Reaches up. Their fingers are just touching when—

— the garage door sounds, a loud groaning and creaking directly below them, an oncoming disaster.

Lisa blinks. Only an instant. Jennie’s eyes are wide and filled with something that isn’t quite fear. She puts her hand back against the ground, pushes herself to her feet, stumbles towards the door.

“My mom,” she says. “She’s home.”

Lisa’s hand falls to her side.

“Stay here,” Jennie tells her, and then she’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i made it longer as an apology for a four month hiatus, christ. chap title from forever young.
> 
> hope you enjoyed... thanks for reading <3 follow me on twitter at @longlive_ff for lame/nonexistent content or to scream at me if i ever leave this long again.


End file.
